MAE1042: Introduction to Aircraft Structures and Dynamics

We had a field trip that was worth 10% (It was easy to get 100% on this, all you had to do was walk around a museum and answer a multiple choice question sheet. All the answers were in the museum). The then tutorials were worth 10% in total as well - each being worth 0.5%. Further, all you had to do in order to get 100% in the tutes was ATTEMPT 70% or more of the questions. The exam was worth 80%.

Personally, I was very impressed with the way this unit was executed. This was the first time Wenyi had taught it, and he had changed the content quite drastically. But his lecturing was of a high caliber and he presented everything concisely and clearly. He did many examples in each lecture, which for the topics being taught is a must.

The tutes were always pretty straight forward and always drawn from the textbook. Although spending 2 hours of your life each week obtaining 0.5% may not sound fun, you will likely learn a lot from going. The tutors are also very helpful and Wenyi was at every one of them.

The content taught in this unit was, as the title suggests, introductory Engineering Statics and Dynamics with a small component of aircraft structure nomenclature and history. Its nothing all that exciting, but its is necessary to have a good foundation in these topics as an Aerospace & Mechanical Engineer.

For the aircraft structure and history part, we basically were taught about the famous pioneers of aerospace engineering and their contributions (About 1 - 2 lectures in total), then we spent 1 lecture on the anatomy of aircraft airframes - basically just nomenclature and nothing more.

For the statics component, we studied:

• Vector Algebra review.
• Two & three dimensional force systems.
• Couple and moments.
• Static Equilibrium.
• Distributed forces & centroids.
• Structural Analysis: Plane & space trusses, method of sections & method of joints, and beams.

For the dynamics component, we studied:

• Kinematics of Particles: Rectangular, Polar, and Normal & Tangential coordinate system representations, and relative motion.
• Kinetics of Particles: Rectangular, Polar, and Normal & Tangential coordinate system representations. Work & energy, potential energy.
• Space Mechanics: Linear & angular impulse & momentum, central force motion, Newton's Law of Gravitation, trajectory of space vehicle (Uses differential equation analysis).
• Systems of Particles: Impact analysis (Oblique and central impacts), mass transfer analysis in rocket propulsion systems.

Wenyi Yan

There were none because at the time I took this unit, it had just been completely restructured in terms of content. So old MAE1042 exams were not relevant. However, Wenyi provided many worked examples in lectures, and there was the tutorial Q's. Also, much of the content was the same as Engineering Dynamics and Engineering Structures, so you could use these exams as practice.

4.9 out of 5

Yes. But I never used them.

To be honest, most people probably won't need the textbook. Wenyi had all relevant theory on the lecture slides. This unit was much more about being able to solve the problems - there really wasn't that much theory to go with it. However, if you want to learn things in as much depth as possible (As I did), then I would recommend any Engineering Dynamics and statics textbooks (I used the ones by Meriam and Kraige, but Wenyi recommended the ones by Hibbler. It doesn't really matter though, as these these subjects are very traditional and wont really change from textbook to textbook). For the small airframe analysis component, a recommended reading is Understanding Aircraft Structures by Jeremy Liber.

3 hours of lectures per week and one 2 hour tutorial. We had a one hour lecture on Monday and a two hour lecture on Tuesday. Personally I the workload in this unit very manageable, there was nothing revolutionary in the content that required hours of study to understand so it was just a matter of doing the tutes Q's and attending lectures and a bit of study to write up some notes. Quite a reasonable workload in my opinion.

2013, sem 2

10% on Field Trip Questionaire, 10% Midsem, 80% Exam

I enjoyed most of this unit, particularly the Orbital Mechanics section towards the end of the semester. The crack propagation and beams sections were a little dry, while the mechanical vibrations had a lot of overlap with what we were covering in the Engineering Physics elective unit. The unit was fairly well delivered by Brian Falzon, and he tried to keep us interested at times when the material we were learning wasn't that interesting. The Field Trip was to the RAAF base at Point Cook, where we had a talk by a current employeed aerospace engineer, while the assesment for the day was a multiple choice question sheet on the displays at the museum, followed by an aerial display (which wasn't too interesting). With the mid semester, a fair few people found it hard, while a few of us scored well on it, although we were the ones that acutally went to the tutorials. They aren't compulsory, but helped quite a bit in learning the material, and I would say it would be best to go to them. The exam was worth 80% of the unit, which is a hell of a lot, but doing the tute questions prepared us well for the exam, and well since there was only one past exam, the tute questions were the major thing to focus on in SWOTVAC. So in conclusion, go to the tutes and actually do questions, as that is what will get you somewhere in this unit.

Professor Brian G. Falzon

Yes, Only 1, with 1 set of solutions

4.5 Out of 5

Yes, with screen capture

Same Textbook as MAE1041, but to be honest, it isn't needed at all either.

1x2 hr + 1x1 hr lectures + 2 hr tutorial (not compulsorily, carries no marks) per week

2012 Semester 2

93 HD