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Engineering
Report
Year 12 2016
Assessment Task 3
Aeronautical Engineering Report
Education Requirements
For an individual to become an aeronautical engineer, they must have completed a 4-5 year
bachelor’s degree in aerospace or aeronautical engineering. These courses usually begin
with core topics of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering principles, which, over
the course of time, are applied to aeronautics fields, such as flight and propulsion.
Throughout the degree, students are then taught a range of topics, which cover a variety of
topics ranging from aerodynamics, to electrical and control systems in cockpits of
aeroplanes, helicopters, and spacecraft. During the final year of an aeronautical engineering
degree, students research various issues present in air/spacecraft travel, and of ways to
counteract these. Once receiving a degree, to become a fully qualified aeronautical
engineer, university graduates must undertake 2 examinations, and accumulate a minimum
of 4 years work experience to be considered a professional engineer.
Despite this, many aeronautical engineering graduates, ether due to personal choice or
unavailability of jobs, end up working in engineering disciplines such as mechanical,
electrical or even mechatronics. This is due to the fact that all 4 forms have the very similar
base knowledge, which is then diverged into a specialisation during the latter years of one’s
university degree.
Military Applications
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Maintenance Engineering
Engineering Management:
When posted into an Engineering Management role, engineers usually end up working in a
Systems Program Office (SPO). This is within the Defence Material Organisation (DMO).
SPOs exist to provide units and squadrons with engineering and logistics support.
Furthermore, engineers in this role may also be required to lead teams to: evaluate
proposed modifications, liaise with regulatory authorities, monitor the failure of aircrafts, and
provide both technical and logistical solutions to operational availability issues.
Project Management:
Engineers within a management role usually work within a DMO, with their roles involving
either: the engineering and maintenance of large scale projects (e.g. purchase of new
aircraft and weapons systems), or the management of a specific engineering project (e.g.
upgrade to Australia’s fleet of F/A-18 Hornets [fighter jets])
Design Engineering:
Design engineers are required to “sign off” on the integrity of a piece of equipment or system
to ensure its safety and air worthiness. Engineers in this role are usually sent to a position
within a SPO, regulatory authority, or a specialised role (e.g. operational testing and
evaluation), where they are tasked to make technical decisions on changes based of an
engineering point of view. Such changes include equipment modification, software upgrades,
approval for structural repairs, system safety, etc.
As engineers within the armed forces have a rank of an officer, they may be tasked to fulfil
the “any-officer” role. This can range from a variety of roles, such as staff officer roles,
instructor/training roles, etc. This allows engineers to broaden their skillset, thus preparing
them for the challenges of more senior roles later in their careers.
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Civilian Applications
Within the commercial and civilian sector, aeronautical engineers primarily tend to working
on private charter or commercial airlines, or in lab research teams, which conduct more
theoretical and small scale practical work. The main fields of work for civilian aeronautical
engineers include:
Most engineers working within this field are employees at companies which manufacture
aircraft and aircraft components. This can either be for commercial/private airlines or for the
defence forces if the company is working on a defence-contract. The demand for these
companies is driven by two main components: the overall economic climate, and the current
military budget being employed by the government. The profitability of such companies
heavily depends on their technical expertise and their ability to undergo long-term contract
deals. Major companies that reside within this field include: Boeing, Airbus Group, Lockheed
Martin, General Dynamics, etc. In addition to these, smaller companies may work as
subcontractors to the larger ones. Within the United States, the top 20 aeronautical
manufacturing companies are accountable for approximately 90% of the industry’s total
revenue.
Within the research field of aeronautical engineering, engineers mainly conduct lab work and
small scale testing in order to compile and interpret data. Teams which conduct engineering
research are usually the first to begin work as part of a larger project. As they are required to
provide vital information and recommendation on the materials and structure for large
projects, engineers within the research field are required to have extensive knowledge in the
aspect they are conducting their work in. Furthermore, research engineers are also
responsible for the development of new technologies and the beginning steps to their
application within the real world.
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manufacturer) “Airflow and Model Tests”, which involve the of testing the
aircraft’s environmental control system, aerodynamics tests of models within
wind tunnels, and static inlet tests, which involve the evaluation of a aircrafts
propulsion systems.
These tasks are conducted at the beginning of a project, before the physical
work is begun. It ensures that there is a timeframe to work within, and that
both parties of the contract (client and company) have agreed on the fine
details of the project before it commences.
This constraint often also plays a role in the wing size, engine size,
and high lift system design.
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- Climb performance
Number of engines 4 3 2
Flight Condition
First Take-Off Segment 0.5% 0.3% 0.0%
Second Take-Off Segment 3.0% 2.7% 2.4%
Third Take-Off Segment 1.7% 1.5% 1.2%
Approach Segment 1.6% 1.4% !.1%
Enroute Case 2.7% 2.4% 2.1%
Landing Segment 3.2% 3.2% 3.2%
First Take-Off Segment: critical engine is inoperative, aircraft is at
take-off thrust, and flaps are in take-off position.
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Initial climb:
Climb (main):
The main climb occurs shortly after the initial climb has taken
place; however, it is not as rapid as the initial. This climb
places the plane at its final cruise altitude.
Cruise:
Reserves:
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For aeronautical engineers, the form of technical support provided will vary on
what the engineer is specialised in. For example, if a client has a problem
with an engine, an aeronautical engineer will be called to provide advice and
support, however, it is more than likely that he will also have substantial
knowledge in mechanical engineering as well through on the job experience.
Similarly, aeronautical engineers with knowledge of on board systems may be
called to provide support, even though technically speaking; it is outside the
scope of their field.
Engineers analyse data, which is collected through various tests which have
been designed derive specific information of a material or part. This data then
allows engineers to compare various solutions, and then analyse each one
based on the data received. From this, a decision will be made on which
design best fits the problem at hand.
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Technological Change
Since Leonardo Da Vinci first suggested the idea of sustained flight, humans have always
endeavoured to reach the skies and once there, get even further up. Aeronautical
engineering, although not given that name at the time, has been around since the lead up to
the first manned flight, which was achieved in 1783 in a hot air balloon. In 1852, Benjamin
Franklin first proposed the idea of aerodynamics, an idea which is now one of the most
important parts of aeronautics. Aerodynamics refers to “the study of the properties of moving
air and the interaction between the air and solid bodies moving through it.” Through this, the
development of the dirigible was commenced, and was completed in 1852. The dirigible, or ‘,
more commonly known as, ‘airship’, was a self-propelled lighter than-air craft. This craft was
essentially a “cigar-shaped” balloon filled with helium, which was driven by propellers and
held crew and passengers below it. It was one of the biggest technological changes of the
time with respect to aeronautics, as earlier; hot-air balloons users could only control its
altitude, with the direction of wind providing horizontal movement. The airship changed this
by the implementation of propellers, which allowed users to control the direction of the
movement.
The next major change in aeronautical technology occurred in 1799, where and English
baron, by the name Sir George Cayely drew the first ever known design for a fixed wing
aircraft. However, this could not be fulfilled because the engine that Cayely required did not
exist at the time. Due to this drawback, Cayely then turned to the development of gliders,
with the first successful flight occurring in 1849. This breakthrough laid the ground works for
modern day aerodynamics. Cayely’s gliders were able to work through the application of
Bernoulli’s principle (discovered in 1738) to flight. Following the work of Cayely, the fathers
of modern manned flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the first ever, successful
manned flight using a heavier-than-air craft.
Shortly following their successful flight, the Wright brothers eventually sold their designs to
the United States military, who’s first major impetus of flight cam during World War 1. During
this era, aircraft began to be purpose built for specific military tasks such as,
reconnaissance, air-to-air combat and bombing. By the time the way had finished, aircraft
had begun to emerge within the civilian sector as well. Most of the technological
advancements seen within civilian aircraft came as a direct result of innovations which were
first developed for military and racing aircraft. One such aircraft which was aided by military
advancements was the U.S. Navy
Curtiss NC-3 flying boat. It was
powered by four 400 horsepower V-
12 engines. This aircraft was
however dwarfed in overall
influence by the British Handley-
Page, 12 passenger transport plane
(seen right). Hadley-Page Transport Plane (also used as a bomber in WW1) 2
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In 1949, with the efficiency increase of the jet engine, the British de Havilland Comet
because the first ever commercial aircraft to apply the use of a jet engine, due to numerous
structural failures during its service, it was not very successful. This then paved the way for
Boeing to create the 707 jet, which was the world’s first major commercial jet success in
1958.
Recent Innovation
The use of stealth aircraft has been around since WW1, yet it was not until recent times
which aircraft have truly been able to apply stealth technology in operational use.
During WWl, German aeronautical engineers experimented with the use of cellulose acetate
for covering the plane. Theoretically, this was to employed to reduce the visibility of aircraft
as they flew over military installations on reconnaissance flights. This idea was however
dropped because the aircraft reflected sun-light, and thus seemed to glistened to observers
on the ground.
The next attempt at stealth aircraft occurred again in Nazi Germany during WWll, where
attempts at radar “invisibility” were made through the Horten Ho 229 flying wing bomber. It
was made of a wooden structure which was bonded with a carbon based plywood resin,
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which was specifically designed to absorb radar waves. This along with the aircraft’s shape
made it virtually invisible within the radar bands that were used by British early warning radar
systems. This was however only possible if the aircraft flew at an extremely low altitude of
approximately 15-30 metres at a speed of almost 900km/h, thus posing an extremely
dangerous situation for the pilots and crew aboard it.
It was not until the 1970s that true stealth technology was implemented to aircraft systems.
Engineers at Lockheed Skunk Works discovered that if an aircraft was made with faceted
surfaces, its radar signature was extremely small, and furthermore, it was able to reflect
almost all radar energy that it encountered. The first combat
operational use that stealth aircraft was during Operation Just
Cause, in Panama, 1989, where two USAF F-117s (seen
right) bombed a military barracks in Rio Hato. These aircraft
were again used during the Gulf Wars, especially during
Operation Desert Storm, where F-117s were tasked with
attacking some of the most heavily fortified targets within Iraq. Pair of F-117s flying over Iraq 5
They were also the only jets that were allowed inside the city limits
of Baghdad.
Despite their stealth capabilities, most stealth aircraft has a number of limitations which
disadvantage them severely. These include:
Instability of design:
As the focus of early stealth capabilities was to reduce the aircraft’s cross section, their
aerodynamic performance was depleted. Aircraft such as the F-117 were aerodynamically
unstable in all three axes, thus requiring constant flight corrections by a flight system known
as fly-by-wire (FBW).
Aerodynamic Limitations:
Early stealth aircraft were not fitted with afterburners because the hot exhaust would create
a large infrared footprint, and breaking the sound barrier would result in a sonic boom, which
is audible from all altitudes of aircraft flight. Due to this, their air combat capabilities would
never be able to match to that of a purpose built fighter jet, however, since these early
aircraft were deigned to be bombers.
These limitations have however been overcome in more modern aircraft such as the F-22
Raptor, and the F-35 Lightning, both of which have had extensive use throughout the United
States various campaigns in the Middle East.
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With stealth measures, an aircraft’s detection zone to be targeted
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numberisinimmensely smaller than
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Footage of the stealth MH-60 Blackhawk during which includes edge alignment panels,
Operation Neptune Spear deploying DEVGRU special paint coating, and anti-radar
Navy Seals into Osama Bin Laden’s compound, treatment for their windshields. These
Abbottabad, Pakistan 7 aircraft became known to the public after the
raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound by
US Navy Seal Team 6, which was a pair of modified Sikorsky MH-60 stealth variant (seen
right).
The materials used within modern stealth aircraft comprise of radiation-absorbent material
(RAM), which has been specifically designed and shaped to absorb non-ionising radiation
(also known as RF radiation) waves, which is what radar utilise. As the effectiveness or RAM
increases, the amount of RF radiation decreases, thus allowing the aircraft to remain hidden
from any form of detection other than physically seeing it.
RAM itself must be designed for specific wave RF frequencies, thus stealth aircraft cannot
remain undetected within all radar zones, however, knowing what frequency most radar’s
operate on, allows engineers to create a RAM which will fit the most likely form of RF
radiation. It is commonly misunderstood that RAM makes aircraft completely invisible to
radars, this is however incorrect. Ram actually assists in significantly reducing an aircraft’s
radar cross-section within specific frequencies.
There are 4 main types of RAM that are currently used by stealth aircraft:
This RAM is one of the most commonly used. It contains microscopic small spheres, which
are coated with ferrite or carbonyl iron. When iron ball comes into contact with radar waves,
molecular oscillations are induced as a result of the alternating magnetic field of the paint.
This causes the conversion of the radar energy from the waves to be transferred into heat,
which is then dissipated by the aircraft. The paints iron particles are obtained by the
decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl, which contains a mixture of carbon, nitrogen, and
oxygen. This can be applied to aircraft in various ways. One is example is its application to
the F-117A Nighthawk. This method involves the use of electrically isolated carbonyl iron
balls, which are of specific dimensions, suspended in two-part epoxy paint. These balls are
then coated with silicon dioxide (quartz), which acts as an insulator. Whilst the paint is still
wet, a magnetic field is applied to it. Finally, the paint is left to cure whilst the magnetic field
holds the particles in suspension, locking the balls into their magnetic pattern.
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Foam Absorber:
Split-ring resonators (SRRs) are recent innovations which have been proven to be extremely
effective in the reflection radar waves. Furthermore, it can be used in conjunction with both
iron ball paint absorber and foam absorber. SRRs use a photographic process, which results
in the creation of a resistance layer on top of approximately 0.1778mm (~thickness of paper)
of copper foil, on top of dielectric backing panel. SRRs can tune to specific wavelengths, and
then stacked upon each other, resulting in a large spectrum of absorbable radar frequencies.
At the moment, SRR is the closest humans have come for aircraft to achieve complete radar
invisibility.
Carbon Nano-tubing:
As radars operate with the microwave section of the wave spectrum, carbon nanotubes are
often painted onto its body, thus allowing the aircraft to have a smaller radar cross-section.
Recently, research has been conducted into the applications of carbon nanotubes for aircraft
stealth. Results from this research has shown that along with the absorption of radar waves,
carbon nanotubes neither scatter, nor reflect visible light, essentially making then invisible to
optical equipment and the human eye during night hours. However, the current limitation in
the manufacture of carbon nanotubes means that coating entire aircraft is not a possibility in
the present day.
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Hazardous Materials:
With the growth of aeronautical technology and the emergence of new technologies every
year, the demand for the disposal of toxic manufacturing by-products increases at an
exponential rate. Common hazardous materials that are specifically disposed of include but
are not limited to:
To minimise contact with such materials, engineers must follow a set of strict guidelines.
These are set up by the company, but are however fairly similar across the industry. They
include rules such as wearing the proper safety equipment whilst handling hazardous
materials, conducting their work in a safe manner, etc.
Materials such as these pose extreme threats to engineers that work in their presence, and
are thus required to be handled, and disposed of with care. For military waste, the
government employs its own contractors to collect and dispose of the waste in a manner
following the suitable guidelines. Commercial aeronautical firms and companies are required
to dispose of their waste either by themselves, or like the government, are required to hire
contractors to dispose of the products for them. The incorrect disposal of these materials can
lead to the contamination of nearby land or river systems, thus resulting in the poisoning and
death of local fauna and flora. These contaminants can also leak into household water
supplies by seeping into dams, or other bodies of water from which water is used for houses
(e.g. Murray-Darling River System).
As a majority of aircraft now use jet propelled engines to generate thrust, the noise that is
produced from them is at times, at levels dangerous for human ears to handle. This most
notably affects those in the military, working on the flight decks of aircraft carriers. However,
this is a problem without a solution, as humans have not been able to solve the mysteries
behind the physics of turbulence. For the time being, ear protection is the best method to
minimise damage to engineers, ground crew, and can act as a nuisance to those living near
the airport (especially those that run 24 hours).
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Despite this, several theoretical ideas have been developed as to how to reduce noise
coming from engines, whilst still retaining the power they create. This mainly involves
changing the shape of the engine’s exhaust nozzle. This can involve:
A nozzle re-design which can adjust the ratio of emitted exhaust to “throat” area of the
engine can reduce the overall shock-associated noise. This happens by reducing the
difference of pressure between the exhaust and surrounding air. Furthermore, along with
reducing noise, this method can actually also improve the performance of the engine.
Through either bevelling the nozzle or cutting it open at an angle, the noise produced from
the aircraft’s engines can be redirected away from the ground personnel and surrounding
area.
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