Aeroelastic Tailoring of Composite Aircraft

The process of designing an aircraft is generally divided in three phases, namely the conceptual, preliminary and detailed. The whole process is one that involves various disciplines and is subject to multiple constraints. Traditionally the different aspects of the design process are tackled separately by different departments within a company. This approach assumes that there is little to no interaction between the various disciplines. The use of composite materials for aircraft structures has challenged this traditional approach on the account that the interaction between the relevant disciplines within aircraft design and optimization cannot be neglected as easily.