Department of Mechanical Engineering, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
ME30045 Aerospace structures 1 |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Honours |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: EX75CW25 |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take ME20023 or (take ME20024 or take ME20071) |
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Aims: To introduce appropriate techniques for the loading, stress analysis and failure prediction of aircraft structures.
Learning Outcomes: After taking this unit the student should be able to: * Determine critical gust and manoeuvre load cases for an aircraft. * Construct shear force, bending moment and torque diagrams. * Design aircraft structures by accounting for static strength, buckling and fatigue failure. * Use, and have a basic understanding of, computer packages for structural analysis and design. Skills: Problem solving; numeracy; working independently; written communication. Content: Influence of speed, altitude, geometry, weight and stiffness on aircraft loads. Gust and manoeuvre envelope. Shear force, bending moment and torque diagrams. Shear flow and shear centre of open and close sections. Fracture strength and crack propagation, including safe-life and damage-tolerant design. Shear buckling and tension fields - analysis and design of ribs and spars. Compression buckling of stiffened panels - analysis and design of wing panels. Use of computer packages for structural analysis and design. Introduction to structural optimisation. Topics for self learning that could be examined. |