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<p>This study addresses the challenge of balancing weight reduction with stiffness in aircraft horizontal tails by proposing a multi-material design strategy combining carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) spars, closed-cell foam cores, and aluminum alloy joints. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model was developed to quantitatively assess how manufacturing tolerances—specifically variations in adhesive layer thickness and foam core density—affect interfacial mechanical performance. The co-optimized structure achieved a single-wing mass of 17.8&#xa0;kg, representing a 32% reduction compared to conventional all-metal designs, while limiting the maximum displacement to 188.8&#xa0;mm. Sensitivity analysis revealed that a 0.2&#xa0;mm decrease in adhesive thickness increased peak interfacial shear stress by 22%. Monte Carlo simulations identified adhesive thickness variability as the dominant factor, contributing 64% of the variance in overall displacement. Robustness optimization, incorporating ± 45° ply reinforcement and tolerance-aware design, reduced the standard deviation of displacement by 50% and increased the transverse shear modulus by 17.3%. Validation tests on scaled prototypes demonstrated that a gradient density compensation strategy reduced displacement variability by 41%. The calibrated finite element model showed strong agreement with experimental data, yielding a coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>) of 0.96. This work establishes a process-structure-property framework to support the reliable design of multi-material aerospace structures, though the findings are based on a scaled prototype and specific material combinations, indicating a need for validation at full scale and with other material systems.</p>

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Tolerance driven lightweight design and interface robustness of multi material aircraft horizontal tail structures

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月7日

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  • Mu Lin,
  • Bingbing Wang,
  • Changhong Lin

摘要

This study addresses the challenge of balancing weight reduction with stiffness in aircraft horizontal tails by proposing a multi-material design strategy combining carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) spars, closed-cell foam cores, and aluminum alloy joints. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model was developed to quantitatively assess how manufacturing tolerances—specifically variations in adhesive layer thickness and foam core density—affect interfacial mechanical performance. The co-optimized structure achieved a single-wing mass of 17.8 kg, representing a 32% reduction compared to conventional all-metal designs, while limiting the maximum displacement to 188.8 mm. Sensitivity analysis revealed that a 0.2 mm decrease in adhesive thickness increased peak interfacial shear stress by 22%. Monte Carlo simulations identified adhesive thickness variability as the dominant factor, contributing 64% of the variance in overall displacement. Robustness optimization, incorporating ± 45° ply reinforcement and tolerance-aware design, reduced the standard deviation of displacement by 50% and increased the transverse shear modulus by 17.3%. Validation tests on scaled prototypes demonstrated that a gradient density compensation strategy reduced displacement variability by 41%. The calibrated finite element model showed strong agreement with experimental data, yielding a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.96. This work establishes a process-structure-property framework to support the reliable design of multi-material aerospace structures, though the findings are based on a scaled prototype and specific material combinations, indicating a need for validation at full scale and with other material systems.