MAE3406 - Aerospace materials - 2019

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Engineering

Organisational Unit

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Chris Davies

Coordinator(s)

Professor Raman Singh

Unit guides

Offered

Clayton

  • Second semester 2019 (On-campus)

Prohibitions

MEC3459

Synopsis

Lightweight composite materials are used widely in aerospace structures. They include carbon fibre reinforced plastics, glass fibre reinforced plastics, carbon laminates, composite panels, carbon mats and woven fabrics. Honeycomb structures, metal matrix composites, thermal ceramics and advanced materials. Light alloys: aluminium, titanium and magnesium. Thermoset and thermoplastic systems. Manufacture, processing and fabrication of aerospace materials. Net shape forming and structure-property relationships. Joining of composites. Properties and selection of aerospace materials. Degradation, failure modes, delaminating, bond failure, environmental and thermal degradation, fatigue and wear.

Outcomes

At the successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

  1. Decide on the appropriate material for a given engineering design considering the operational requirements and the limitations of different material types.
  2. Describe methods for modification of material microstructure and control of material properties.
  3. Reflect on the intricacies of a common manual fabrication technique (ARC Welding) and its associated safety aspects.
  4. Differentiate a range of corrosion types and the principles behind corrosion mitigation.
  5. Predict mechanical and corrosion failure modes and explain likely causes.

Assessment

NOTE: From 1 July 2019, the duration of all exams is changing to combine reading and writing time. The new exam duration for this unit is 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Continuous assessment: 40%

Final Examination (2 hours): 60%

Students are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component 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

Six hours of contact time per week - usually 3 hours lectures and 3 hours practice sessions or laboratories as well as 6 hours of private study per week

See also Unit timetable information

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study