Aerospace Structures

The Aerospace Structures group focuses on the design, analysis and optimisation of lightweight structures. This demands a thorough understanding and knowledge of numerical analysis and optimisation techniques, as well as thin-walled structures, modern materials and production methods. The Aerospace Structures group employs and develops numerical ‘tools’ to design and optimise aerospace structures, and to efficiently analyse their behaviour under the different types of loading which can occur during flight. Experimental methods are also used to assess the accuracy of the numerical tools and to gain deeper insight into the physical nature of the structure.

Various areas pose a number of challenges. When aiming for as low a weight as possible with aerospace structures, particular attention needs to be paid to preventing buckling or vibrations occurring in the structure. Research is currently being carried out into the practical application of new materials (composites) for achieving optimal characteristics, and by using so-called ‘smart materials’, the form of the structure can be altered during flight.

An important aspect of this research is that optimisation calculations can often be very time-consuming. ‘Cellular automata’ is a very promising concept that enables a computer with a very large number of processes to perform parallel, i.e. simultaneous, calculations. This concept also enables us to move beyond regarding analysis and design as separate components, and instead to be able to perform these activities simultaneously as one process, thereby creating a very efficient method for achieving a good design.

Contact: