35317 - Basic Principles and Methods of Aerospace Industry Design (2nd Cycle)

Learning outcomes

Aerospace design skill, choosing and using the most suited computational approach. Knowledge of regulations, procedures and management practices for designing, developing, testing aerospace systems.

Course contents

The course concerns the methods applied in the aerospace industry for using engineering knowledge and skills, in order to organize and carry out the design and development of new aircrafts, and aerospace systems in general.

The course includes lectures, case studies related to configurations of existing aircraft; and a practical part, in which students are organised in working groups, each developing the preliminary design of an aircraft. The workflow is described in the following.

The first part of the course deals with the birth af a new product in the aerospace industry, considering various aspects: the conditions that underlie the emergence of a new program, the meaning of the requirements and how to approach to the definition of a new program.

Then the requirements are analyzed in more detail and the dimensioning parameters or design variables of the new aircraft are identified.

Having established the dimensioning parameters, we analyze various configurations, including examples of design decisions made ​​in relation to specific requirements and highlighting their main advantages and disadvantages. The criteria for defining the internal layout are also provided .

A third part is devoted to the choice of a configuration, in particular of the wing. Simplified sizing methods are presented and applied in tutorials.

In the latter part of the course phases following the preliminary design are consideres, referring to the full life cycle of the product, with particular emphasis on the development, namely on issues of qualification and certification. A chapter is devoted to economic evaluations.

The content is updated each academic year, with particular reference to the examples presented.

Readings/Bibliography

“Northrop F-5A case study in aircraft design”, AIAA professional study series
 “A case study by Grumman Aerospace Corp. and Gulfstream America Corp. on the Gulfstream III”, AIAA professional study series
 “Airplane Design”, J. Roskam
 “The design of the aeroplane”, D. Stinton
 “Subsonic and supersonic airplane design”, G. Corning
 “Aerodynamics of the airplane”, H. Schlichting, E. Truckenbrodt
 “Aircraft design: a conceptual approach”, D. Raymer
 “All the world aircraft”, Jane's

Teaching methods

Copies of presentations and lesson notes are distributed to the students attending the course. Students are invited to participate with comments, questions, criticism also related to examples of recent programs and aircrafts.

Students are organized in working groups, each of which consists of two to four students. Each group has a project assigned and is required to submit regular progress reports. The project will be documented in a technical report and presented at the end of the course making use of slideshows.

Assessment methods

Review of the project assigned during lessons; oral examination.

Teaching tools

PC for slideshows, traditional blackboard

Office hours

See the website of Franco Persiani

See the website of Francesca De Crescenzio