Cho, S and Bil, C 2007, 'Columned multi bubble fuselage (CMBF) for BWB', in SAE International (ed.) 2007 AeroTech Congress & Exhibition, Warrendale, USA, 17-20 September 2007.
A Columned Multi-Bubble Fuselage (CMBF) concept is proposed for a Blended Wing Body Ultra-Heavy Lift aircraft design. Inter-cabin wall sections were replaced with columns to provide a large and contiguous area. The configuration allows the membrane stresses of the round wing panels to be balanced with the tensile stresses in the columns. CMBF was analyzed and compared with a conventional Multi-Bubble Fuselage (MBF) to verify its structural performance regarding weight reduction and stiffness. Initial analysis shows that the CMBF has a significant weight advantage over conventional MBF. The paper introduces the objectives of the project and presents preliminary structural design and analysis results.
