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Aeronautical Engineering
Aerospace Structures I

Aerospace Structures I

Code	10362
Year	3
Semester	S1
ECTS Credits	6
Workload	TP(60H)
Scientific area	Aeronautics and Astronautics
Entry requirements	Background in Solid Mechanics and Applied Mechanics is important.
Mode of delivery	In classroom.
Work placements	NA
Learning outcomes	The student must acquire appropriate skills to understand the function of different structural components of aerospace vehicles, as well as to undertake stress analysis considering a loading scenario identical to the one obtained in a real operational environment. At the end of this curricular unit, students should be able to: - identify the main structural elements of an aircraft and understand their function; - calculate the loads applied to the various structural elements of the aircraft; - understand the theoretical background relating to the general equilibrium equations, identifying their different terms and different parameters (stresses and strains); - calculate stresses and displacements of aerospace components subjected to different types of loads; - understand structural buckling mechanisms in slender elements; - know how to size single-cell and multiple-cell thin-walled structures; - know how to design structural elements of aircraft.
Syllabus	1. Introduction to aerospace structures: general concepts; historical overview, types and function of structural components; types of loads on the aircraft; airworthiness requirements; definition of flight envelope. 2. Loads determination: definitions; V-n diagram; forces on the aircraft; wing loads; tail loads; fuselage loads; landing gear loads; other loads. 3. Analysis of thin-walled structures: stresses under bending loading (stresses and displacements); shear and torsion in open and closed section beams; structural idealization. 4. Stress analysis of aircraft structures: tapered spars; variable section beams; fuselages; wings; openings in fuselages and wings; wing ribs and fuselage frames. 5. Structural instability: relevance in aerospace components; Euler buckling of columns and beams; inelastic buckling; effect of initial imperfections; design considerations.
Main Bibliography	1. P.V. Gamboa, Notes of the curricular unit - Estruturas Aeroespaciais I, ~540 slides, UBI, 2023. 2. T. Megson, “Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students”, 6th edition; Butterworth-Heinemann; 2017. 3. Bruce K. Donaldson; “Analysis of Aircraft Structures: An Introduction”; McGraw-Hill; 1993. 4. David Peery; “Aircraft Structures”, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill; 1982. 5. C.T. Sun, “Mechanics of Aircraft Structures”; Wiley-Interscience; 1998. 6. F. Beer, E. Johnston, J. DeWolf, and D. Mazurek, “Mechanics of Materials”, 5th edition, McGraw-Hill Science; 2008. 7. F. Beer, E. Johnston, E. Eisenberg, and G. Staab, “Vector Mechanics for Engineers – Statics”; McGraw-Hill Science; 2003. 8. Carlos A. G. Moura Branco, “Mecânica dos Materiais”, 3ª edição, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian; 1998. 9. Michael C.Y. Niu, “Airframe Structural Design”, Conmilit Press LTD., 1998.
Teaching Methodologies and Assessment Criteria	This curricular unit is structured in a mix of theoretical and practical topics. The material is transmitted orally with multimedia slideshow support, with additional information written on the blackboard and with a large number of example problems solved on the blackboard. A design problem of a wing structure is also developed which integrates most of the topics dealt with in classes.
Language	Portuguese. Tutorial support is available in English.