Page 1 of 2

Atlan Bilyal
Atharva Desai

(4538749)
(4540417)

Mentor Group : E-4b

Group A : Wing Rib

Group B : Metal
A wing is constructed from thin metal skins which can resist in-plane tension and shear loads but
bow under compressive loads which are directed in-plane. Hence the skin is reinforced by stringers
which resist the compressive loads and loads normal to the skin. The wing silhouette in the chord
wise direction must be kept in shape to maintain the aerodynamically suitable shape. Thus, to keep
the desired shape, internal structural support units are put in place. These structural supports are
called wing ribs. 1
The wing rib of a Cessna Skylane is shown in Figure 1.
This wing rib has the shape of the structure that it has to
support, which is the wing. The wing rib extends from the
leading edge to the trailing edge of the aircraft wing. The rib
is notched to host the stringers where the lower flange of the
rib is notched to host the stringers of the lower skin.
Holes are made to the web of the rib for mass reduction,
accessibility and to form a passage for wiring and fuel pipes.
The design for the wing rib is said to have the required
strength with minimum weight.2
The wing rib is made out of aluminium. The electrical
conductivity of aluminium alloys makes it easier to create a
safe cage of Faraday of the aircraft fuselage. Aluminium
Figure 1 : Wing Rib of Cessna Skylane
provides a light tension bar and the performance/weight
ratios are also better, compared to other metals and alloys
such as steel. Compared to other materials like steel and carbon, aluminium is much lighter but on
the other hand it is weaker. However, the fact that is light doesn't mean that is not strong. By
alloying it a much stronger material is produced, i.e a metal alloy. Thereby, we increase the yield
strength and ultimate strength. Metal alloys have a good processibility, plastic behaviour and are
rather cheap.3 Hence, due to the weight and strength capacities of aluminium, the metal was chosen
to manufacture the wing rib.
There are two ways to design a wing rib. The first is designing the rib as a shear resistant plate
girder that will not bow under loads. This method is used for the design of the lightly loaded ribs
where the web stiffeners are omitted and instead a series of standard flanged lightening holes are
introduced. The second method is based on the diagonal tension theory where the rib is forced to be
under incomplete diagonal tension field. The manufacturing is done via a thin wall machining. The
machining strategy for thin wall sections varies depending on the height and thickness of the wall of
the rib. The number of passes is determined by the wall dimensions and axial depth of cut.
Sometimes a technique called corner milling (slicing) is used. This consists of multiple successive

http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~sedagha/researchgroup_website/mostafa_sa_elsayed/Wing%20Rib%20Stress
%20Analysis%20and%20Design%20Optimization.pdf
2

http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~sedagha/researchgroup_website/mostafa_sa_elsayed/Wing%20Rib%20Stress
%20Analysis%20and%20Design%20Optimization.pdf
3

Materials and Structures Handout (Blackboard)

Page 2 of 2

Atlan Bilyal
Atharva Desai

(4538749)
(4540417)

Mentor Group : E-4b

passes which remove material ensuring low radial immersion/ engagement angle and low cutting
forces.4 Uprights are introduced to the rib to support rib buckling.

Pitching

Lift

Resultant Lift

During flight, there are loads that act on the wing ribs, such as aerodynamic loads acting on the rib
which by its roll transfers it to the spars; concentrated forces from landing gears and engine support
points which are transferred to the wing cellular units in the form of distributed shear flows;
medium forces resulting from the flaps, ailerons, fuel tanks, etc and body forces in the form of
gravitational forces (weight) and inertia forces due to mass of the wing. These forces are shown
below on the diagram. The wing rib is the same as the rib shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 has been
cropped to just show the wing rib.5

Resultant Drag

Stress

ulta
nt W
ing
We
igh
t

Wing Weight

Res

Front

Spar

Reac
tion

Drag

Figure 2 : Forces on a wing rib.

To optimise this component would increase the overall efficiency of an airplane. Using carbon
instead of aluminium might be one of the ways to go about. To conclude, wing ribs are one of the
most essential components of a wing and thus an airplane.
4
5

http://www.sandvik.coromant.com/en-gb/industrysolutions/aerospace/aluminium/Pages/Wing-rib.aspx

http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~sedagha/researchgroup_website/mostafa_sa_elsayed/Wing%20Rib%20Stress
%20Analysis%20and%20Design%20Optimization.pdf