AEM 125

Aerospace Industry

So what do AEs do?

Aerospace engineers are responsible for developing
extraordinary machines, from airplanes that weigh over
a half a million pounds to spacecraft that travel over
17,000 miles an hour. They design, develop, and test
aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles and supervise
manufacturing of these products. Aerospace engineers
who work with aircraft are considered aeronautical
engineers, and those working specifically with
spacecraft are considered astronautical engineers.
ref. www.avjobs.com

Divisions of Aerospace

Aviation, defense systems, and space exploration are the

main divisions

some specialties are:

structural design
guidance
navigation and control
instrumentation and communication
production methods

aerodynamics
thermodynamics
celestial mechanics
propulsion
guidance and control
systems

Who do AEs work for?

About 1 in 7 aerospace jobs are provided by the
government, primarily the Department of Defense and
NASA
Other major companies are Lockheed Martin, Boeing
(McDonnell Douglas), Northrop Grumman, and General
Dynamics
Most of the aerospace companies are in California,
Florida, Washington, and Texas

Who do Alabama AEs work for?

Sector

Number of
Companies

Number of
Employess

% Employment

% Engineers

General Manufacturing

30

1,070

3%

8%

Missile & Space Vehicle Parts

Manufacturing

18

2,367

6%

5%

Aircraft Parts MRO & Manufacturing

20

2,248

6%

4%

Missile & Space Vehicle Manufacturing

5,095

14%

45%

Aircraft MRO

6,831

19%

<1%

Engineering & R&D Services

86

12,832

36%

30%

Information Technology Services

38

5,808

16%

11%

Some Facts:
16% of the total employees were engineers
2/3 of the private sector AE jobs (55% of total) were in Madison county area
All of the Engineering & R&D Services jobs were in Madison county area
90% of the companies were small business (500 or less employees)
34% of workers were degreed technical professionals

Aeronautical Engineering
Deals with inner-atmospheric flight

fixed-wing aircraft
rotary aircraft
missiles
hot-air balloons

Major divisions
aerodynamics and propulsion
flight dynamics and control
structures

Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics the branch of science dealing with the
forces exerted by air or other gases in motion
What do aerodynamicists do?
study air flow as it travels around objects
flow characteristics as turbulence, vortices, etc.

use this to predict how vehicles will react in different flying

conditions
develop theoretical models (CFD)

One major tool of aerodynamicists is the wind tunnel

Propulsion
Propulsion is that portion of aerospace engineering
devoted to the process of developing thrust, the force
that counteracts the resistance of drag and allows a
vehicle to move forward in its flight path
The main types of propulsion are propeller, turboprop,
turbojet, and turbofan
We will talk about these later

The main concerns are how to increase efficiency and

thrust

Flight Dynamics and Control

Flight dynamics is a rather broad area that relates the
aerodynamic and propulsion characteristics of an
aircraft to its flight characteristics, stability and control,
and overall performance
Flight Controls deals with how to control aircraft
behavior through ailerons, flaps, etc.
A major concern in controls is the type of response
gained from different control commands

Structures
One of the biggest obstacles to early flight was the
weight of the aircraft; thus aircraft structures had to be
lightweight but strong
Important considerations are the type of material and
the design of the structures
Not only static loads but dynamic loads are a concern
when designing structures
Computer codes called Finite Element Models are used
to predict the reaction of structures under various
loadings, static and dynamic

Space Engineering
Deals with any vehicles that operate outside of the
atmosphere
Satellites
Space Shuttle
Space Station

The divisions are basically the same but with much

different design considerations

Orbital Mechanics
Control
Propulsion
Structures

Orbital Mechanics
This deals with the dynamics of vehicles moving in
space
A lot of planning goes into how to put vehicles in orbit
(escape the atmosphere), do orbital transfers (travel
between planets), and enter orbit
Much of the considerations in this has to do with
minimizing time and fuel consumption

Space Control
Similar to inner-atmosphere flight, it is important to
know how to move the vehicles
For many space vehicles as satellites, it is important to
control the direction
A lot of study goes into minimizing response time and
optimizing other response properties as phase lag and
peak overshoot

Propulsion
Propulsion is totally different for spacecraft
Air is essential to all inner-atmosphere propulsion
No air in space

Usually propulsion is achieved by moving mass out of

the spacecraft at high speeds
conservations of momentum

Other technologies are being developed such as solar

sails, tethers, pulse detonation, etc.

Structures
Spacecraft structures must be able to withstand
extreme loads upon launch and reentry (speeds up to
Mach 35!)
The material used must also be able to absorb and
dissipate enormous amounts of heat

Space Shuttle

Whats Going on Now?

Aircraft:

Space

LO Low Observable (ex. F-117, B-2, JSF)

hypersonic jets
adaptable structures wings that flex
blended wing bodies
unmanned aircraft
personal aircraft
man to Mars
reusable launch vehicle
space station on the moon
all kinds of new propulsions (including safe nuclear power)

And many more things we arent allowed to know about