Unistructure – A New Concept for Light Weight Integrally Stiffened Skin Structures

Unistructure is a new concept for light weight integral rib-reinforced skin structures that is readily adaptable to many configurations. The rib cross sections are a form of I beam. The rib reinforcing patterns considered here are isogrid and waffle, (i.e. triangular and rectangular constructions) but any desirable form can be produced.

This paper provides an over-view of the methods of fabrication and the structural performance features of Unistructure. Comparisons are made with honeycomb, skin/ stringer, and integral-machined structures. These comparisons indicate that the combined ease-of-fabrication and performance advantages of Unistructure warrant its consideration in many applications.