Patent ID: 8864075

Claim:
An elongate structural member for use in an aerospace structure, wherein the structural member is made from composite material comprising a multiplicity of layers, the structural member has a foot and a web extending from the foot, the structural member defines a first surface on the foot being shaped to abut the aerospace structure, a second surface on the foot being opposite the first surface, a third surface on or in the web being at the same layer in the composite material as the first surface, and a fourth surface on the web being on the same side of the structural member as the second surface, the cross-sectional geometry of the structural member varies along at least part of its length so that the geodesic distance between first and second notional reference lines increases across substantially the entire length of the structural member and increases substantially linearly as a function of lengthwise distance along said at least part of the length of the structural member, the first and second notional reference lines each being geodesic lines, which extend across the entire length of said at least part of the length of the structural member, the first notional line lying on the first surface and the second notional line lying on the third surface, and the geodesic distance being measured along the first and third surfaces of the structural member, whereby the risk of causing, during fabrication of the elongate structural member, undesirable creasing, stressing or stretching of composite material layers in a region in which the geometry of the elongate structural member varies with increasing distance along its length is reduced.