Upper joints between outboard wing boxes and wing center sections of aircraft wing assemblies

• Main Authors: Hamada, Jason, Charles, Jordan Daniel
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 22.11.2017
• Subjects: AEROPLANES; AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS; HELICOPTERS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

An upper joint of a wing assembly of an aircraft includes an outboard upper wing panel, a center upper wing panel, a rib, and an upper joint assembly operatively interconnecting the outboard upper wing panel, the center upper wing panel, and the rib. In some embodiments, outboard upper stringers may be configured differently than center upper stringers. In some embodiments, a subset of the center upper stringers may not directly oppose the outboard upper stringers. In other embodiments, for at least a substantial fore/aft span of the upper joint, each of the center upper stringers may directly oppose an outboard upper stringer. In particular the present invention relates to An upper joint for a wing assembly of an aircraft, the upper joint comprising: an outboard upper wing panel (24) of an outboard wing box (20, 22); a center upper wing panel (28) of a wing center section (18); a rib (32) that is located between the outboard wing box and the wing center section; and an upper joint assembly (38) operatively interconnecting the outboard upper wing panel, the center upper wing panel, and the rib; wherein the upper joint assembly defines a mating plane (48) between the outboard wing box and the wing center section; wherein when the upper joint is in compression, the outboard upper wing panel expresses a compressive inward pressure toward the upper joint assembly; wherein when the upper joint is in compression, the center upper wing panel expresses a compressive outward pressure toward the upper joint assembly; and wherein a centroid (54) of the compressive inward pressure (50) across an acreage of the outboard upper wing panel when extended across the mating plane intersects the mating plane below or above where a centroid (56) of the compressive outward pressure (52) across an acreage of the center upper wing panel when extended across the mating plane intersects the mating plane.