The Stress Analysis of the Circular Conical Fuselage with Flexible Frames

Summary: This paper is concerned with the problem of the skin–and–stringer–covered conical fuselage of circular cross section, having flexible frames and being subjected to an arbitrary distribution of loads applied in the planes of these frames or on the end cross sections. The skin thickness and stringer cross section may vary from bay to bay but are assumed to be constant in a bay, i.e. between any two consecutive frames. The stringers are assumed to be uniformly spaced round the circumference. The frames are assumed to be of uniform cross section (circumferentially) but their stiffnesses are arbitrary, as is also their spacing along the fuselage. This paper is a sequel to one previously published in the Journal, but the method of analysis is now by minimum strain energy instead of by deflections. Owing to the generality of the investigation it is impossible to present the solution—in terms of the known loads and stiffnesses—in any explicit form, and attention has therefore been concentrated on the technique of numerical computation. A scheme of tabulation has been evolved, and its use is illustrated by a fully–worked numerical example of a moderately complex type.