Structural design and test capability of a CFRP aileron

The current full depth aluminium aileron installed on the P180 AVANTI aircraft has been selected, as reference baseline, for the design of a new CFRP aileron developed within the VITAS project (Vector for Innovative Sustainable Air Transportation). This new composite laminate structure, manufactured by using the RTM process, has been designed maintaining the same geometry, functional performances and attachment fittings of the aluminium component. An iterative design methodology, developed by using both simplified and detailed design approach, has led to an optimized aileron concept characterised by a strong reduction of the number of the structural subparts and by a considerable increase of the weight/costs ratio. Finally, the effectiveness of the developed full scale demonstrator has been successfully proved at the ultimate static load. satisfying the same test performed for the certification of the aluminium aileron. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.