Unistructure—A New Concept for Light Weight Integrally Stiffened Skin Structure

Unistructure is a new concept for lightweight integral rib‐reinforced skin structures that is readily adaptable to many configurations. The rib cross sections are a form of I beam. The rib reinforcing patterns considered here are isogrid and waffle, (i.e. triangular and rectangular constructions) but any desirable form can be produced. This paper provides an over‐view of the methods of fabrication and the structural performance features of Unistructure. Comparisons are made with honeycomb, skin/stringer, and integral‐machined structures. These comparisons indicate that the combined ease‐of‐fabrication and performance advantages of Unistructure warrant its consideration in many applications.