Aircraft Structures
Overview
To provide students with an introduction to the strength of materials and their behaviour as loaded members in aircraft structures. Corrosion and fatigue is also addressed in the context of managing an aging aircraft fleet
Requisites
01-June-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Describe and apply static equilibrium to 2D problems
- Describe aircraft structural members and materials and the method in which aircraft structures react load
- Describe the detrimental effects of corrosion and fatigue and how this is managed in aircraft fleets
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Lecture | 4.00 | 12 weeks | 48 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Independent Learning | 8.50 | 12 weeks | 102 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | Individual | 20% | 1,2 |
| Assignment 2 | Individual | 20% | 1,2,3 |
| Examination | Individual | 40% | 1,2,3 |
| Quizzes | Individual | 10% | 1,2,3 |
| Tutorial Exercises | Group | 10% | 1,2,3 |
Hurdle
As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all ULOs to a minimum standard, an undergraduate student must have achieved:
(i) an aggregate mark of 50% or more, and(ii) at least 40% in the final exam.Students who do not successfully achieve hurdle requirement (ii) will receive a maximum of 45% as the total mark for the unit.
Content
Structural loading; aerodynamic and inertia
·        Load analysis
·        Structurally determinate struts, ties, beams, shafts and simple frames
·        Shear force, axial force, torque and bending moment diagrams
·        Stress and strain Normal stress, average shear stress and bending stress
·        Young’s Modulus, strain.
·        Euler buckling of slender pin jointed columns
·        Yield stress and ultimate stress
Safety factors
·        Limit, proof and ultimate load
Introduction to aircraft materials
·        Aluminium alloys, steel alloys, advanced composites
Metal corrosion
·        Causes, time dependent, time related and time independent, common areas of corrosion in aircraft structures, methods of protection
Fatigue
·        The mechanism of fatigue, manoeuvre and gust load spectra, stress concentrations, crack propagation.
·        Fatigue life determination and fatigue test methods.
·        Safe Life and Fail safe philosophies
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.