It is common for frequent passengers to experience turbulence while flying in an aircraft. Although for some people this time can be scary. A fearful state of mind triggers the worst thoughts for such people. Some may even feel that turbulence can cause the plane to break up. However, airplanes are designed with sufficient stability that prevents them from collapsing in naturally occurring turbulence. The prime example of such a situation is the Durgapur Spicejet turbulence incident. The aircraft was subject to severe turbulence but was able to avoid it.
load factor of an aircraft
Before we make any clarifications, it is important to understand that the structural safety of an aircraft is highly dependent on the load factor. This unit can be divided into limit load, ultimate load and safety factor to measure the structural integrity of the aircraft. Here limit load means the maximum load that an aircraft can experience in its service, ultimate load means the load due to which the aircraft may collapse, and safety factor means the ratio of ultimate load to limiting load.
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When an airplane is loaded to its maximum capacity, its structural integrity must remain unaffected. However, structural failure is possible when subjected to maximum loads. The factor of safety lies between these two limits. It is highly unlikely that the structure of the airplane will deform permanently while operating under the safety factor limits.
The safety factor for an airplane is 1.5 times the maximum load. It strikes a balance between the weight and safety of the aircraft. The strength of the airframe and other aircraft structures should increase as a safety factor. As a result the weight of the aircraft increases. For this reason the safety factor cannot be infinitely high. Therefore, in order to keep the structural integrity of an aircraft intact, pilots have to monitor many things such as maximum maneuvering speed and maximum load.
wing design of an aircraft
Aircraft wings play a major role not only in keeping the aircraft stable but also in keeping the aircraft safe during turbulence. The design of the wing determines how the aircraft will behave when it comes into contact with the air.
The change in angle of attack brought about by vertical gust results in an increase in load factor. Unlike straight-wing aircraft, the swept wings of high-speed airliners are less sensitive to vertical shake. This is due to the fact that at a given angle of attack a sweeping wing produces less lift than a straight wing.