Preliminary Structural Design of the Wings of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Using Composite Materials

The objective of this work is to develop a structural design of an aircraft wing made of composite materials. The focus on composite materials derives from their increasing popularity in high performance products that need to be lightweight, maintaining high mechanical properties. For this reason, their application in aerospace industry, where mass reduction is a key aspect, has increased rapidly. The CAD model is completed by using CATIA V5, including the external surface, ribs and spars of the wing. The use of Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis in MSC Patran and Nastran is appropriate for investigating the structural behavior of the designed wing. These tools are commonly employed for finite element analysis and can provide valuable insights into the structural integrity and performance of complex structures like aircraft wings. The analysis are developed applying two different load conditions and other constraints in order to simulate realistic wing load conditions and the presence of the other structural parts of the aircraft.