Overview
This course examines the analysis and preliminary design of aircraft and spacecraft structural components subjected to aerodynamic, propulsion, landing, pressurization, maneuver, thermal, and environmental loading. Topics include structural idealization, load paths, free-body diagrams, equilibrium, stress and strain, axial loading, bending, shear, torsion, combined loading, deflection, and energy methods.
Advanced aerospace applications include thin-walled open and closed sections, shear flow, multicell structures, anisotropic and composite materials, sandwich panels, joints, fasteners, bonded connections, column and plate buckling, crippling, local instability, fatigue, fracture, damage tolerance, creep, and certification-oriented load factors. Students use finite element and related structural analysis tools while emphasizing mesh quality, boundary conditions, convergence, validation, hand-calculation verification, manufacturability, inspection, corrosion control, thermal effects, redundancy, fail-safe design, and engineering judgment.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyze aerodynamic, propulsion, landing, pressurization, maneuver, and environmental loads to establish defensible structural load cases.
- Construct structural idealizations, free-body diagrams, load paths, and equilibrium models for aerospace components.
- Calculate stresses, strains, deflections, shear flows, and energy-based responses under axial, bending, shear, torsional, and combined loading.
- Evaluate metallic, anisotropic composite, sandwich, jointed, and bonded structural configurations for strength, stiffness, mass, manufacturability, and service requirements.
- Assess columns, plates, thin-walled sections, and aerospace components for buckling, crippling, local instability, fatigue, fracture, damage tolerance, creep, and other relevant failure modes.
- Determine limit and ultimate load responses, safety factors, and margins of safety in certification-oriented structural assessments.
- Develop finite element models with appropriate idealization, material definitions, mesh quality, boundary conditions, and convergence criteria.
- Validate computational results through hand calculations, sensitivity studies, physical reasoning, and comparison with analytical solutions.
- Synthesize a preliminary aerospace structural design that addresses redundancy, fail-safe behavior, inspection, corrosion, thermal effects, and lifecycle considerations.
- Defend structural analysis assumptions, design decisions, validation evidence, and recommendations through professional technical documentation and presentation.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Lab | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Structural analysis assignment | 15.00% |
| Quiz | Quizzes (5 × 2%) | 10.00% |
| Test | Mid-semester structural mechanics test | 20.00% |
| Deliverable | Preliminary aerospace structural design project | 25.00% |
| Capstone | Design project technical presentation and defense | 10.00% |
| Exam | Final examination | 20.00% |
Prerequisites
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
