WEIGHT-OPTIMIZING INTERNALLY PRESSURIZED COMPOSITE-BODY AIRCRAFT FUSELAGES HAVING NEAR-ELLIPTICAL CROSS SECTIONS

摘要

A method for minimizing the weight of an internally pressurized aircraft fuselage of a type that includes an elongated tubular shell having a near-elliptical cross-section with a radius R(&phgr;)- and a curvature Curv(&phgr;), where &phgr; is a roll elevation angle of the shell, includes tailoring at least one structural attribute of the shell as a function of at least one of the elevation angle &phgr;, R(&phgr;) and Curv(&phgr;) so as to reduce the weight of the fuselage relative to an identical fuselage shell in which the same at least one structural attribute has not been so tailored.