Aerostructural Assembly Deformation Prediction Considering Drilling-Induced Stresses

Abstract

Drilling is a material removal process that introduces the plastic deformation and stresses around the hole. When large amounts of drilling stresses are added up, there will be deformation in the aerostructural assembly. This paper presents an aerostructural assembly deformation predicting method considering drilling-induced stresses around the riveting hole. Drilling-induced stresses are simulated with additional temperature fields. The assembly of the two riveted plates are considered to illustrate effects of drilling-induced stresses coupling and validate the proposed model. The simulation and experimental results show that one hole’s drilling-induced stresses have negligible impact on the riveting deformation, while a lot of holes’ drilling-induced stresses must be considered in assembling. When a lot of drilling-induced stresses are added up, there will be significant deformation in the aircraft’s structure. The deformation predicting method outlined in this paper will enhance the understanding of the compliant components deformation resulting from the drilling stresses and help systematically improve the precision control efficiency in the civil aircraft industry.