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Vertical Picture-Frame Wing Jig Structure Design with an Eye to Foundation Loading

Journal Article
2011-01-2693
ISSN: 1946-3855, e-ISSN: 1946-3901
Published October 18, 2011 by SAE International in United States
Vertical Picture-Frame Wing Jig Structure Design with an Eye to Foundation Loading
Sector:
Citation: Carr, M., "Vertical Picture-Frame Wing Jig Structure Design with an Eye to Foundation Loading," SAE Int. J. Aerosp. 4(2):1276-1280, 2011, https://doi.org/10.4271/2011-01-2693.
Language: English

Abstract:

The foundation of many production aircraft assembly facilities is a more dynamic and unpredictable quantity than we would sometimes care to admit. Any tooling structures constructed on these floors, no matter how thoroughly analyzed or well understood, are at the mercy of settling and shifting concrete, which can cause very lengthy and costly periodic recertification and adjustment procedures.
It is with this in mind, then, that we explore the design possibilities for one such structure to be built in Belfast, North Ireland for the assembly of the Shorts C-Series aircraft wings. We evaluate the peak floor pressure, weight, gravity deflection, drilling deflection, and thermal deflection of four promising structures and discover that carefully designed pivot points and tension members can offer significant benefits in some areas. However, when taken as a whole, a structure with moment-supporting corners and thermally independent upper and lower beams outperforms the other designs considered.