STUDY ON NEW CONCEPT OF AIRCRAFT FRAME - PAX CROSSBEAM CONNECTION

Abstract

The paper is presenting a study on a new concept of an aircraft frame to passenger floor crossbeam connection. The current standard in the industry consists in a fastened joint (large bolt field) between the aircraft frame’s web and the web of the crossbeam profile. This extremely rigid connection also transfers, on top of the axial loads, bending moments between the parts, which leads to high stresses and strains in the area. In order to mitigate these high local loads, the parts require increased stiffness, leading to increased weight. The new proposed concept consists of an articulated connection that transfers only axial loads, while the bending moments are not transferred any more. A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is carried out for both standard and new concept, on isotropic materials (metallic) components. Results (deformations, stress and strains) are compared in order to determine the new concept behavior.