Rib arrangement in a wing tip device
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsRichard Hewson, William Tulloch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft (1) having a wing (3) and a wing tip device (4) at the tip of the wing (3), wherein the wing tip device (4) includes a rib (16) positioned in a span wise region (C) of the wing tip device (4) in which transonic flow occurs when the aircraft (1) is in flight. A method of designing an aircraft (1) including predicting where transonic flow occurs on the wing tip device (4) when the aircraft (1) is in flight, and designing the wing tip device (4) with a rib (16) positioned in the span wise region (C) of the wing tip device (4) in which the predicted transonic flow occurs.
Claims17
An aircraft comprising:
- a wing, and
- a wing tip device at a tip of the wing, wherein the wing tip device includes a rib positioned in a span wise region of the wing tip device where a shock wave occurs on the wing tip device when the aircraft is at a cruise altitude and a cruise speed.
A wing tip device configured to attach to a tip of an aircraft wing, the wing tip device including a rib positioned in a span wise region of the wing tip device in which transonic flow occurs when the aircraft is in flight.
An aircraft comprising:
- a wing, and
- a wing tip device at a tip of the wing, wherein the wing tip device comprises:
- a pair of spars that are spaced apart in the chord wise direction,
- an inboard rib linking the pair of spars, and
- an outboard rib linking the pair of spars,
- wherein the outboard rib is positioned in a span wise region of the wing tip device in which a shock wave forms during transonic flow occurs when the aircraft is at a cruise altitude and a cruise speed.
A method of designing an aircraft including a wing and a wing tip device at a tip of a fixed wing portion of the wing, the method comprising:
- (i) predicting where a shock wave occurs on the wing tip device when the aircraft is at a cruise speed, and
- (ii) designing the wing tip device with a rib positioned in the span wise region of the wing tip device in which the predicted shock wave occurs.
A method of designing a wing tip device for an aircraft, the method comprising:
- (i) predicting where a shock wave occurs on the wing tip device when the aircraft is at a cruise speed and at a cruise altitude, and
- (ii) designing the wing tip device with a rib positioned in a span wise region of the wing tip device in which the predicted shock wave flow occurs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.