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Aerospace
Special Issues
Composite Materials and Aircraft Structural Design
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Composite Materials and Aircraft Structural Design

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Aeronautics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1759

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Morteza Abouhamzeh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, 1091 GC Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Interests: aircraft/automobile structural design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Structural and material innovations are inherent parts of the future aviation industry, especially when approaching the defined goals for zero emissions and more sustainable flights. Composite and hybrid materials have proven to possess exceptional properties such as low weight, high strength, and reliable damage tolerance. However, they need to comply with the novel and advanced designs of aircrafts. As we move toward more environmentally friendly designs, advancements in properties and structural design of such components are necessary. This may include the use of thermoset-based and thermoplastic-based composites and fiber–metal laminates. For instance, clean aviation requires hydrogen tanks to be carried in the aeroplane, which needs support from composite tanks to carry the loads. Additionally, recyclability and biodegradability are becoming more favorable in different industries to achieve a more sustainable design-manufacturing process. Therefore, new procedures for modeling such innovative material concepts are welcome for this Special Issue, especially if supported by experimental characterizations and validations. Furthermore, investigations on the feasibility of innovative composites and hybrid materials will enrich the current Special Issue. Novel aircraft configurations for clean aviation purposes are are also welcome for submission to this Special Issue (e.g., novel configurations accommodating hydrogen and electric powered commercial aircrafts targeting climate neutral aviation).

I look forward to your submissions.

Dr. Morteza Abouhamzeh
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • aircraft design
  • aviation/aeronautical
  • composite, hybrid
  • biomaterials
  • optimization
  • novel aircraft structures
  • functional composites
  • modeling
  • optimizations

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2961 KB  
Article
Benefits from Thin-Ply Composite Materials in Aircraft Wing Structures
by Lennart Lobitz, Christian Bülow, Sebastian Heimbs and Peter Horst
Aerospace 2025, 12(12), 1078; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12121078 - 3 Dec 2025
Viewed by 263
Abstract
Previous research shows that thin-ply composite materials offer superior static and fatigue characteristics to standard laminates used in aviation. Therefore, they are expected to be capable of significantly contributing to a mass reduction needed to improve the energy-efficiency of future aircraft. However, so [...] Read more.
Previous research shows that thin-ply composite materials offer superior static and fatigue characteristics to standard laminates used in aviation. Therefore, they are expected to be capable of significantly contributing to a mass reduction needed to improve the energy-efficiency of future aircraft. However, so far, thin-ply composites have only been employed in special applications. Quantitative full-scale assessments of the benefits on the level of global aircraft structures are missing. This study employs a parametric, finite element-based tool chain with a fully-stressed design methodology to investigate potential benefits from the use of thin plies, which may result from increased strength, an extended design freedom and stability considerations, in a generic wing structure of a conceptual medium-range aircraft in order to reduce this research gap. The methodology is validated using an academic test case. Naturally, mass reductions from strength enhancements are limited by buckling constraints in thin-walled structures. However, for the wing examined in this study, an increase in strength of 10% still yields up to a 7.9% reduction in global wing mass, while an increase of 20% results in mass savings of up to 13.4%. The use of thin-ply composites may allow for reducing minimum wall thickness constraints. Associated mass savings of up to 3.1% found in this study on global wing level when alleviating the requirement from 2.4 mm to 1.2 mm are, however, restricted to rib mass and may better be achieved by different means such as topology optimisation. In contrast, mass penalties from the application of a simplified manufacturing constraint are reduced significantly from beyond 10% on global wing level for plies with a thickness of 0.175 mm to approximately 1.5% with a ply thickness of 0.05 mm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Composite Materials and Aircraft Structural Design)
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22 pages, 8402 KB  
Article
Analysis of the Compressive Buckling and Post-Buckling Behaviour of Wood-Based Sandwich Panels Used in Light Aviation
by Hajer Hadiji, Joel Serra, Remi Curti and Bruno Castanié
Aerospace 2025, 12(9), 782; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12090782 - 29 Aug 2025
Viewed by 995
Abstract
This work aims to investigate the buckling and post-buckling behaviour of wood-based sandwich structures with and without a manufacturing defect, under compressive loading. The specimens were made by gluing birch veneers to a balsa wood core. The defect consisted of a central zone [...] Read more.
This work aims to investigate the buckling and post-buckling behaviour of wood-based sandwich structures with and without a manufacturing defect, under compressive loading. The specimens were made by gluing birch veneers to a balsa wood core. The defect consisted of a central zone where glue was lacking between the skin and the core. A compression load was applied to the plate using the VERTEX test rig, with the plate placed on the upper surface of a rectangular box and bolted at its borders. The upper surface of the plate was monitored using optical and infrared cameras. The stereo digital image correlation method was used to capture the in-plane and out-of-plane deformations of the specimen, and to calculate the strains and stresses. The infrared camera enabled the failure scenario to be identified. The buckling behaviour of pristine specimens showed small local debonding in the post-buckling range, which was not detrimental to overall performance. In the presence of a manufacturing defect, the decrease in buckling load was only about 15%, but final failure occurred at lower compressive loads. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Composite Materials and Aircraft Structural Design)
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