Implementation of a Hands-On Aerospace Design Project During the COVID Pandemic

Rani W. Sullivan; Shuvam Saha; Masoud Rais-Rohani

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Aerospace Division (AERO) Technical Session 2
Tagged Division: Aerospace Division (AERO)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47574

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Paper Authors

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Rani W. Sullivan Mississippi State University orcid.org/0000-0002-4933-3215

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Rani W. Sullivan is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi State University (MSU) and the holder of the Bill & Carolyn Cobb Endowed Chair. She has teaching and research interests in the area of solid mechanics, aircraft materials and structures, and engineering education. Her research spans structural health monitoring, composite manufacturing, and mechanical and non-destructive testing of polymer matrix composites and large-scale structures for aerospace applications. She is the founder and adviser for the Women of Aerospace student organization at MSU. Prof. Sullivan is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She is the recipient of the 2019 Hermann Oberth Award and the 2014 SAE International Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. Prof. Sullivan is a member of the MSU Bagley College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

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Shuvam Saha Mississippi State University

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Masoud Rais-Rohani University of Maine

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Masoud Rais-Rohani is Richard C. Hill Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maine. He is also Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi State University. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of design optimization, aerospace structures, structural mechanics, and composites. He has made extensive use of experiential learning and computer applications in his courses, including the development of two websites, one devoted to analysis of aircraft structures and the other to statics. He has also led or contributed to the development or redesign of several courses in aerospace and mechanical engineering.

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Abstract

This paper demonstrates the successful implementation of a hands-on, semester-long team project in a senior aerospace structural design course during the COVID pandemic. The class enrollment of 69 students comprised of 18 teams, each having either three or four members per team. This design course, required of aerospace undergraduates at ___University, focuses on the analysis of buckling failure mechanisms in thin-walled aerospace structures. A critical aspect of the course is a required project that gives experiential learning on the topics of design, shop procedures, manufacturability, testing, and analysis of an aircraft skin-stringer panel. Each student team was given the project criteria to fabricate, test, analyze, and optimize a stiffened panel representative of those typically found in aircraft structures. Prior to the pandemic, student teams designed their panels after receiving all technical information in class lectures, resulting in students conducting all steps of the project during the last three weeks of the semester. This became an impossible task during the pandemic due to the imposed physical distancing and safety requirements. We had the option of foregoing the project due to the unique circumstances; however, we felt that it was important to retain this hands-on experience not only for its benefits of increased student engagement, interest, and engineering self-efficacy, but also for the opportunity for peer collaboration. Thus, we modified the project so that the hands-on (manufacture and testing) aspects of the project occurred over a longer time period, thus allowing comfortable space and time for student teams to safely complete all aspects of the project. This was accomplished by giving the materials and the stiffened panel specifications such as stringer (Z and inverted hat) geometry, spacing, number of rivets, etc. to each team, thus allowing students to begin fabrication at the beginning of the course and test all articles by mid-semester. The end of the manufacture and test phases coincided with the completion of the technical material so that students could proceed with analysis and optimization of their panel design. The modified project format produced unexpected benefits. Students were able to gain a deeper understanding of manufacturability and design aspects since the technical material was presented concurrently with the hands-on manufacturing and testing of the panels. Students were also able to experience all aspects of the design process as an optimization module was required to improve upon their given panel geometry. Additionally, since different panel specifications were assigned to each team, the measured data set was used to develop a parametric evaluation, demonstrating the impact of changing stringer geometry.

Citation
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Sullivan, R. W., & Saha, S., & Rais-Rohani, M. (2024, June), Implementation of a Hands-On Aerospace Design Project During the COVID Pandemic Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47574

TY - CPAPER
AB - This paper demonstrates the successful implementation of a hands-on, semester-long team project in a senior aerospace structural design course during the COVID pandemic. The class enrollment of 69 students comprised of 18 teams, each having either three or four members per team. This design course, required of aerospace undergraduates at ___University, focuses on the analysis of buckling failure mechanisms in thin-walled aerospace structures. A critical aspect of the course is a required project that gives experiential learning on the topics of design, shop procedures, manufacturability, testing, and analysis of an aircraft skin-stringer panel. Each student team was given the project criteria to fabricate, test, analyze, and optimize a stiffened panel representative of those typically found in aircraft structures. Prior to the pandemic, student teams designed their panels after receiving all technical information in class lectures, resulting in students conducting all steps of the project during the last three weeks of the semester. This became an impossible task during the pandemic due to the imposed physical distancing and safety requirements. We had the option of foregoing the project due to the unique circumstances; however, we felt that it was important to retain this hands-on experience not only for its benefits of increased student engagement, interest, and engineering self-efficacy, but also for the opportunity for peer collaboration. Thus, we modified the project so that the hands-on (manufacture and testing) aspects of the project occurred over a longer time period, thus allowing comfortable space and time for student teams to safely complete all aspects of the project. This was accomplished by giving the materials and the stiffened panel specifications such as stringer (Z and inverted hat) geometry, spacing, number of rivets, etc. to each team, thus allowing students to begin fabrication at the beginning of the course and test all articles by mid-semester. The end of the manufacture and test phases coincided with the completion of the technical material so that students could proceed with analysis and optimization of their panel design. The modified project format produced unexpected benefits. Students were able to gain a deeper understanding of manufacturability and design aspects since the technical material was presented concurrently with the hands-on manufacturing and testing of the panels. Students were also able to experience all aspects of the design process as an optimization module was required to improve upon their given panel geometry. Additionally, since different panel specifications were assigned to each team, the measured data set was used to develop a parametric evaluation, demonstrating the impact of changing stringer geometry.
AU - Rani W. Sullivan
AU - Shuvam Saha
AU - Masoud Rais-Rohani
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Implementation of a Hands-On Aerospace Design Project During the COVID Pandemic
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47574
ER -