Replica 55 Project: aerodynamic and fem analysis of a wooden seaplane

The engineering approach and the technical contents of an aeronautical design project is presented as the result of a students team work at their last year of bachelor’s degree at Polytechnic of Turin (Italy). Starting from a complete wooden seaplane, the Savoia Marchetti S55, aerodynamic, flight mechanics and structural analysis were performed and investigated in detail. From the point of view of structural modeling, the obtained results present how a natural composite material such as wood, can be treated as the latest generation composite materials adopted in aeronautical constructions.