Undergraduate - UnitMAE3402 - Aerospace design project

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Engineering
Organisational Unit	Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Monash Passport category	Research Challenge (Investigate Program)
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Professor Hugh Blackburn

Synopsis

On completion of this unit students will have an understanding of the key elements of aircraft performance analysis as used in aerospace vehicle design. A student project involving the initial design stages of a flight vehicle will integrate these studies. Various characteristics of aircraft performance and their design implications will be examined including whole-aircraft drag polar, power plant characterisation, thrust required in level flight, maximum speed estimation, minimum speed and high-lift devices, rate of climb, gliding, range, endurance, accelerated flight, structural limitations on performance, design for longitudinal and lateral stability. Mission analysis and preliminary weight estimation based on a design concept will be examined together with the aerodynamic synthesis to satisfy performance requirements, power plant selection, overall vehicle layout and balance. Trade-offs as a necessary part of the design will be apparent to students on completion of this unit.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

produce a preliminary aircraft weight estimate from a supplied mission profile and aircraft category
generate initial estimates of aircraft wing area and propulsion capacity given a supplied aircraft category and mission profile
choose an appropriate layout of aircraft elements given supplied aircraft category and mission profile
produce a dimensioned and appropriately labelled three-view line diagram of an aircraft layout
estimate aircraft drag polar coefficients from a given geometry and mission profile using a drag-buildup method
choose and size an appropriate wing airfoil and high-lift system for a given aircraft category and performance requirement
comprehend and apply aircraft performance analysis particular to the choice of aircraft wing loadings and thrust (or power) to weight ratios in order to meet specified performance constraints
estimate aircraft component group weights from available correlations, and to incorporate these into a refined weight estimate for a given aircraft layout, size and mission profile
arrange aircraft components in order to place the centre of gravity in a desired location
choose and locate landing gear components appropriate to the aircraft category and weight
size and locate tail surfaces to achieve a desired static longitudinal stability and control effectiveness
provide a scaled, dimensioned and appropriately labelled three-view line diagram of an aircraft
understand the concepts of simple design optimization via investigation of design choice alternatives

Assessment

Project work: 50%, Examination (2 hours): 50%
Students are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component (assignments, tests, mid-semester exams, laboratory reports) and at least 45% in the final examination component and an overall mark of 50% to achieve a pass grade in the unit. Students failing to achieve this requirement will be given a maximum of 45% in the unit.

Workload requirements

3 hours lectures, 2 hours practice sessions or laboratories 7 hours of private study per week.

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Chris Davies

Prerequisites

MAE1041, MAE3401, MAE3407, MEC2402