Short course/CPD

Introduction to Aircraft Stress Analysis

 

Course date: 11 Jun 2012  - 22 Jun 2012

Course overview

This course presents the basic fundamentals and techniques of aircraft stress analysis. It is designed to introduce delegates immediately to practical stress analysis, using real structural problems to illustrate the fundamental principles and practical techniques.

  • Provide an understanding of the principles and techniques in stress analysis.
  • Provide a hands-on experience of solution methods and procedures in real structural design problems.
  • To make Engineers aware of problem areas and to promote good design practise.

 
Location

Cranfield University is located at the very heart of the UK – within the innovation triangle between London and the cities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Our central location provides easy access from the M1, excellent main line rail service as well as proximity to key international airports. Set in rolling countryside, Cranfield offers a rich, rural landscape complemented by thriving towns and picturesque villages.

  • Road: We are just 10 minutes from Junctions 13 & 14 of the M1 motorway. There is free parking on campus. 
  • Rail: Milton Keynes or Bedford 
  • Air: London Luton (22 miles), Heathrow (50 miles) or Birmingham (70 miles).

View our location maps.

Course fee:

£3595

Accommodation fee:
How to register

 

Further information

For more information on this course or booking details please contact:
Academic Operations Unit
T: + 44 (0) 1234 754192
E: shortcourse@cranfield.ac.uk

Course Booking Conditions

Course description

Course Delivery

The course combines presentations and a practical hands-on approach with case studies and workshops. Morning lecture sessions include; Detail Stressing, Structural analysis, Aircraft Loading, Structural Stability, Composite Structures, Fatigue, Fracture Mechanics and Finite Element Methods.

Afternoon ‘hands-on’ sessions involve tutorial activity in which the delegates perform stressing and other exercises. The first of these covers the elements of detail stressing, introducing the use of data sheets and basic material properties. Later exercises involve the use of computer workstations for structural analysis and finite element practical sessions.
Tutorial sessions are used in conjunction with laboratory demonstrations to cover the effect of buckling.

These practical sessions present delegates with real structures and loading situations, involving them in the necessary idealisations and calculations leading to the determination of the reserve factors indicating the adequacy of the components. Use is made of the departmental stressing handbook and externally published data items, supplemented where appropriate by printed example sheets.

Who should attend?

The course is intended for new members of aircraft stress offices who may have been recruited from other departments, or from other branches of engineering. Previous delegates have come from various roles including: 

  • Stress engineers
  • Aerospace designers
  • Accident investigation staff
  • Structural engineers
  • Aircraft / aerospace maintenance engineers 
  • Research engineers 
  • Automotive / motorsport engineers 
  • Aerospace test engineers 
  • Airforce, military and naval engineering staff 
  • Design draftpersons 
  • Airworthiness engineers
  • Certification engineers 
  • Composite materials engineers. 

Whilst there are no precise academic requirements, delegates are likely to hold a minimum qualification of HND or Degree in mechanical or aeronautical engineering or related subject.

Content summary

Loading:
Requirements.
Loads due to manoeuvre and gusts.
Load distribution.
Undercarriage and crash cases. 

Stressing:
The place of stress calculations in aircraft design and production.
Strength and stiffness requirements.
Factors.
Material properties.
Composites.
Fatigue and fracture.

Detail Stressing Methods:
In-plane and bending stresses.
Section properties.
Torsion.
Rivets and bolts.
Lugs.
Yielding and form factors.
Composite properties and stress analysis.

Buckling:
Formulae for struts, effects of yielding.
Torsional and local instability.
Buckling of stiffened panels in compression and shear, post buckled behaviour.
Imperfection sensitivity.

Aircraft Structures:
Reinforced shells under bending and torsion.
Fuselage frames, Rib analysis, Finite element analysis.
Safe life and damage tolerant analysis.

Course Director

Jason C Brown

Senior Research Fellow
Department of Applied Mechanics
T: +44 (0) 1234 750111 ext. 5119
F: +44 (0) 1234 758217
E: j.c.brown@cranfield.ac.uk