Structural Analysis en Design

This course is a continuation of the series of courses in engineering mechanics looking at the analysis of internal loads, stress, and deformations of engineering structures. Within this particular course, an emphasis will be placed on lightweight thin-walled structures typically found in aerospace applications. Stress and deformation analysis methods developed in Statics and Mechanics of Materials will be extended to these applications, with an emphasis on simplifications and idealizations that can be made in order to allow first-order structural designs to be produced for given loading scenarios.

The primary topics that will be addressed in this course include:

• Unsymmetrical bending

• Torsion of thin-walled open and closed sections

• Shear of thin-walled open and closed sections (incl. shear centres)

• Multi-cell structures

• Sheet-boom structural idealizations

• Energy methods

• Buckling

• Cutouts and their associated reinforcements

These topics and their consequence on design will be thoroughly discussed in a traditional lecture format. Simple illustrative examples will be used to illustrate the concepts learned; however, their real power with respect to design typically requires iterative approaches and the use of tools such as Excel or Matlab to streamline the calculation process. To reflect this, examples will focus on generating parametric solutions (ie: stresses and deformations as functions of geometric and material properties) that could be directly used for such iterations.

There are two options for the assessment; The option that results in the best grade outcome for the student is automatically applied.

Option A:

The assessment has three parts:

1. Test 1 in week 2.5, duration 1.5 hrs, course material taught upto and including week 2.4

2. Test 2 in week 2.7 or 2.8, duration 1.5 hrs, course material taught upto and including week 2.7

3. Final exam, duration 3 hrs, full course material taught

The value of each of the tests is 20% of the final grade. The value of the final exam is 60% of the final grade. The results of the tests are valid for one academic year only.

Option B:

Alternatively, students may decide to not take part in the two tests but decide to only take the final exam. In that case the final exam (duration 3 hrs) has a value of 100% of the final grade. It covers all the course material taught.

The final exam in option A is identical to the final exam in option B. Only the weighing towards the final grade differs. Students do not have to indicate which grading option they want to take. Students will be awarded the better grade from each of the two options. Please note, for option A, any absence from a test will constitute a zero on that test in terms of the calculation. It is not possible to only participate in on test and have the final exam grade count towards the missed test.

Resits:

During the exam period in Q3 there will be one resit final exam. The weighing towards the final grade is identical to the one for the final exam in Q2, with the grade of the resit final exam taking the place of the final exam grade. The grading option (A or B) which results in the best grade autcome for the student will automatically be applied.

There is no possibility to resit Test 1 or Test 2.