Aircraft Design

Start: October

Duration: MSc: 1 Year full-time

Course overview

A successful aircraft design project requires engineers to have both technical and team working skills. The Aircraft Design option will develop your abilities in these areas through our extensive group design project. The aim of the group design project is to provide students with a virtual industrial environment through which the knowledge and skills acquired from the taught course can be applied to a real aircraft design project. Each student is given the responsibility for the design of a significant part of the aircraft. Students work together and carry out individual tasks which the whole team is dependent on.

We will train you in the use of industry standard software such as CATIA and NASTRAN. Our rapid prototyping machine manufactures wind tunnel models from CATIA.

Structure

The Aircraft Design option has three components - taught modules, group design project and individual research project. Students benefit from a wide range of assessment methods including examinations, assignments, written thesis, peer review and presentations.

Taught modules

The taught modules cover many aspects of aircraft design, including structures, systems, aerodynamics, certification, reliability, manufacture and operations. Students take modules in:

• Computer Aided Design
• Stress Analysis, Composite Structures, Fracture Mechanics and Damage Tolerance, Sustaining Design (Structural Durability)
• Finite Element Analysis, Structural Dynamics, Aeroelasticity, Structural Stability
• Airframe Systems, Systems Development, Reliability, Safety Assessment and Certification
• Loading Actions, Aircraft Performance, Stability and Control
• Aircraft Conceptual Design
• Design for Manufacture, Operation and Maintainability
• Accident Investigation and Crashworthiness Power Plant Integration.

Individual Research Project

This provides students with the opportunity to study a problem related to aircraft design in more detail and add knowledge to the subject. Topics consist of conceptual design studies, and theoretical or experimental research into structures or systems disciplines. Some topics involve design and manufacture of sub-scale flying demonstrator aircraft. Other topics offer opportunities for collaboration with industry.

Assessment

Examinations, assignments, group project thesis and individual research project thesis.

Entry requirements

1st or 2nd class UK Honours degree or equivalent in an engineering discipline. Applicants who do not fulfil the standard entry requirements can apply for the Pre-Master's Course in Engineering, successful completion of which will qualify them for entry to this course for a second year of study.

English Language Requirements

Our normal minimum requirement is a TOEFL score of 580 (paper test) or 237 (computer test), essay rating 4.5 or 92 (Internet test), all skills 19 or an IELTS 6.5 with 6.0 for writing, a TOEIC overall score of 830, or a Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English grade C or Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English grade C, although a number of our programmes require higher scores.

Funding

For details of any bursaries that may be available please contact the Enquiries Office on the details shown below.

Want to know more?

Contact our Enquiries Office for further details, E: enquiries@cranfield.ac.uk, T: +44 (0)1234 758008.

Additional content

• Specialist Energy MSc opportunities