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Stability and Integrity of Aerospace Structures
Engineering & Social Sciences Program
Madrid, Spain
Dates: mid Jan 2026 - early Jun 2026
Stability and Integrity of Aerospace Structures
OVERVIEW
CEA CAPA Partner Institution: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Location: Madrid, Spain
Primary Subject Area: Aerospace Engineering
Instruction in: English
Course Code: 15345
Transcript Source: Partner Institution
Course Details: Level 300
Recommended Semester Credits: 3
Contact Hours: 42
Prerequisites: Advanced Mathematics, Aerospace Materials I and II, Introduction to Structural Analysis, Aerospace Structures
DESCRIPTION
1) Stress Analysis of Aircraft Components
- Structural Idealization
- Wing spar and box beams
- Wings
- Fuselage
2) Structural Stability
- Columns:
Elastic buckling of ideal columns. Euler Curve. Inelastic buckling of columns. Euler-Engesser Curve. Real effects on column stability: Imperfections. Local Buckling and Crippling. The Johnson-Euler curve.
- Plates:
Elastic buckling of plates (compression, bending, shear and combined loading). Plastic effects in plate buckling. Effect of panel curvature. Panel failure: compression and shear panels. Diagonal Tension.
3) Structural Integrity:
- Constant and variable amplitude fatigue:
SN Curves. Stress concentrations. Cycle counting. Cumulative damage rules. Residual stresses. Design Criteria.
- Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics:
Energy release rate and Stress Intensity Factors. Plastic zone size. Fracture Toughness and failure prediction. Thickness effects on Fracture Toughness. The plane strain Fracture Toughness test.
- Fatigue Crack Growth:
Fatigue crack growth rate curve. Stress ratio effects. Paris Law and other analytical representations.
- Damage Tolerance Analysis:
Life prediction. Closed form integration for constant Beta and Paris Law. Retardation effects. Design Criteria.
- Structural Idealization
- Wing spar and box beams
- Wings
- Fuselage
2) Structural Stability
- Columns:
Elastic buckling of ideal columns. Euler Curve. Inelastic buckling of columns. Euler-Engesser Curve. Real effects on column stability: Imperfections. Local Buckling and Crippling. The Johnson-Euler curve.
- Plates:
Elastic buckling of plates (compression, bending, shear and combined loading). Plastic effects in plate buckling. Effect of panel curvature. Panel failure: compression and shear panels. Diagonal Tension.
3) Structural Integrity:
- Constant and variable amplitude fatigue:
SN Curves. Stress concentrations. Cycle counting. Cumulative damage rules. Residual stresses. Design Criteria.
- Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics:
Energy release rate and Stress Intensity Factors. Plastic zone size. Fracture Toughness and failure prediction. Thickness effects on Fracture Toughness. The plane strain Fracture Toughness test.
- Fatigue Crack Growth:
Fatigue crack growth rate curve. Stress ratio effects. Paris Law and other analytical representations.
- Damage Tolerance Analysis:
Life prediction. Closed form integration for constant Beta and Paris Law. Retardation effects. Design Criteria.