Airfoil

Designed and built a lightweight wing that withstands a 95.5-lb tip load while minimizing deflection, using CAD, FEA, and manufacturing-driven structural optimization

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Inspiration

This project served as the culmination of MAE 321 and was designed to synthesize the full scope of what we learned about engineering design, solid mechanics, and manufacturing. Rather than optimizing a purely theoretical structure, we were tasked with producing a real, testable wing that had to survive a prescribed load while remaining lightweight and manufacturable. The tension between strength, stiffness, and mass—under strict geometric and material constraints—made the project both technically demanding and deeply engaging.

What it does

Airfoil is a structurally optimized wing designed to withstand a minimum 95.5-lb downward tip load while minimizing overall mass and deflection. The wing incorporates a tapered aluminum beam, airfoil-shaped bulkheads, aluminum skin, and riveted joints, and its performance was validated through both finite element analysis and physical load testing.

How I built it

The wing was developed through an iterative design–analyze–manufacture workflow. Using PTC Creo, we modeled each major component—the beam, bulkheads, skin, and rivets—and subjected them to stress, displacement, buckling, and sensitivity analyses to guide design decisions. Material selection, feature placement, and geometry were refined based on simulation results, after which the parts were manufactured using a combination of CNC machining, waterjet cutting, and 3D printing. Final assembly relied on blind rivets, followed by full-scale load testing to validate the design.

Challenges I ran into

One of the primary challenges was avoiding overdesign. Early iterations easily met strength requirements but carried unnecessary mass, forcing us to carefully reduce material while remaining within buckling and deflection limits. Manufacturing introduced additional challenges—particularly with PETG bulkheads—where real-world tolerances differed from CAD assumptions, requiring manual fitting and adjustment during assembly.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The final wing weighed just 1.76 pounds yet safely supported up to 355 pounds during testing—more than 3.7× the required load. Achieving this level of performance while meeting all geometric and material constraints, and seeing strong agreement between simulation predictions and experimental results, was a particularly rewarding outcome.

What I learned

This project reinforced how easily conservative design choices can lead to inefficiency, and how critical sensitivity studies are for meaningful optimization. I also gained firsthand experience with the realities of manufacturing, where minor CAD decisions can significantly impact assembly effort and structural behavior. Perhaps most importantly, I learned how to balance analytical rigor with practical constraints in a team-based engineering environment.

What's next for Airfoil

With additional iterations, I would push the design closer to its allowable limits by further lightening the beam, refining skin attachment to mitigate buckling, and improving bulkhead fit to reduce manual rework. The goal would be to preserve structural performance while reducing mass, bringing the design closer to an optimal balance between strength, stiffness, and weight.

Built With

  • creo
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