What are ribs in aircraft?
Ribs are thin and curved structural components. They are designed to provide support, as well as shape, for many parts of an airplane. Ribs give the shape to the wing section, support the skin (prevent buckling), and act to prevent the fuel flowing around as the aircraft maneuvers.The function of the rib cage is to protect the organs of the thoracic cavity. Other functions include the ability to assist in respiration as well as to provide support for the body’s upper organs. The ribs are perfectly designed so that they can perform all of these functions properly.The ribs are the bony framework of the thoracic cavity. The ribs form the main structure of the thoracic cage protecting the thoracic organs, however their main function is to aid respiration. There are twelve pairs of ribs.As such, ribs can be allocated to one of three distinct types; true (vertebrosternal) ribs, false (vertebrochondral) ribs and floating (vertebral, free) ribs.