KB7006 Composite Materials and Lightweight Structures

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COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATIONS<

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Learning outcomes (LOs) tested in this assessment
LO3. Critically appraise key features of aerospace and automotive lightweight
structures and to use the ideas developed in the analysis of composites towards
designing aerospace and automotive lightweight structures.
LO4. Optimised methods in topological and material selection for lightweight
structures.
LO5. Demonstrate increase awareness of the environmental impact of engineering
products and how lightweight structures have improved engineering performance with
less environmental impact.
Academic integrity statement
You must adhere to the university regulations on academic conduct. Formal inquiry
proceedings will be instigated if there is any suspicion of plagiarism or any other form
of misconduct in your work. Refer to the University’s Assessment Regulations for
Northumbria Awards if you are unclear as to the meaning of these terms. The latest
copy is available on the University website.
Failure to submit
The University requires all students to submit assessed coursework by the deadline
stated in the assessment brief. Where coursework is submitted without approval after
the published hand-in deadline, penalties will be applied as defined in the University
Policy on the Late Submission of Work. A Late Authorisation is simply an authorised
extension of the time allowed to complete and submit a piece of assessed work. All
initial requests for Late Authorisation must be communicated to, and dealt with by the
Student Progress Team at any Student Central. You should apply for a Late
Authorisation via the ‘My Northumbria’ portal.
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Assignment (Total 50 marks)
 Statement of the work that students are expected to undertake:
Design and Optimization of an Aircraft Pylon
An aircraft pylon is a typical cantilever structure hanging the turbine engine and other
payloads to the wing of aircraft.
In this assignment, students will apply the knowledge and skills they learn and develop to
the design and optimization of an aircraft pylon. Students will select materials for the
structure, and conduct both shape and topology optimizations of their designs. They will
also explain the relationship between the technical aspects of their designed lightweight
structure and the wider societal context, such as risk, ethics and environmental impacts as
considered by an engineering practitioner.
Fig. 1. Example of an aircraft pylon. Fig. 2. Example of a design domain.
 Additional instructions to students
This assignment is an individual work. Students are expected to spend about 40 hours on
the assignment. The key tasks are outlined below:
 Select materials by comparing composites with common engineering materials such as
metals and alloys
 Set the design domain, i.e. rough shape of an aircraft pylon.
 Perform the shape and topology optimizations on the design
 Discuss the optimization results and appraise the key features/limitations/improvement
of the optimized structures
 Discuss the ethics and environmental impacts of the optimized structures
 Write an assignment report (≤ 3000 words).
The template of the report is given below:
Cover Page
Table of Contents
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Section 1. General introduction and problem statement
Section 2. Material selection
Section 3. Design, optimization results and discussions
Section 4. Ethical and environmental impacts
References
Note: for the referencing style, either Harvard or British Standard can be chosen.

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