Structural Sizing and Optimization of Aerospace Vehicle Fuselage

An efficient software tool was developed for fuselage structural sizing and optimization of aerospace vehicle. The fuselage structural model contains skin, stringer, frame and floor support structure. The program is applicable to fuselage with general geometry such as tapered non-circular cross-section and variable structural size in longitudinal and circumferential directions under combined loading with axial, bending, torsion and internal pressure. The various section type of primary components also incorporated in structural model and the effect on strength calculation and sizing are considered. The primary structures are sized iteratively for minimum weight using each of stress-ratio algorithm and optimization algerian or the both. The strength, buckling and minimum gage constraints are included in the structural sizing. The example problems show that the best selection of cross-section dimension and spacing of structural components can be obtained using the developed program.