Canted spar with intermediate intercostal stiffeners

Claim 1

A box construction for an aircraft wing having an upper skin and a laminated lower skin with front and rear spars positioned therebetween at the forward and aft edges thereof, said aircraft wing comprising a plurality of pairs of upper spar caps extending spanwise along the length of the inner surface of the wing upper skin and fixedly attached thereto, said pairs of upper spar caps being spaced chordwise across the wing structure and canted to the upper surface thereof, a plurality of lower spar caps extending spanwise along the length of the inner surface of the wing lower skin and fixedly attached thereto and canted to the surface thereof, each of said lower spar caps being positioned under and midway between each pair of said upper spar caps, a spar web fixedly attached between each of said lower spar caps and one of each of said pairs of upper spar caps and extending spanwise along the length of the wing structure, and a plurality of intercostal stiffeners at spaced intervals spanwise along the length of the wing structure wherein each intercostal stiffener is of substantially triangular configuration positioned apex downwardly between the other of each of said pairs of upper spar caps and one of said spar webs thereby providing sufficient stabilization to prevent upper skin buckling up to ultimate design stress with a minimum of shear webs at significant weight savings.