Scope of Composite material with spider silk in Aerospace industry

Aerospace industry relies heavily on composite materials whether its an aircraft or spacecraft,  every designer desires to have a material with high strength to weight ratio. Composite materials are those hybrid materials which are developed by the composition of more than one material to get the desired properties. Today we find a lot of variety in composite materials, like basic composites, fiber reinforced composites etc. Fiber reinforced composites are widely used in aerospace industry, for their ability to bare tensile load, particularly in designing the skin of the aircraft. Composites are non magnetic materials and so they don't interface with the magnetic compass of the aircraft and this makes them the ideal material in designing the panels and other cockpit parts. 

I have looked upon the properties of spider silk fiber and I must say that to me it seems the material of future technology. I myself have done project on this material by replacing the conventional material used in the fuselage side Windows with the new composite material made of spider silk and epoxy. With this new material The transparency has increased, weight has been reduced and strength and lifetime of the window has increased.  I have also calculated an aggregate of 50% loss in the weight per window. 

Spider silk is the only natural fiber which is used to trap insects this shows how easily this fiber bares the impact load. The secret to this ability of the fiber is its elasticity which allows it to get elongated to 500% of its original length thus absorbing the energy. The deflection in the structure of the model was reduced with this new material.  This is the material of future. 

high lift devices

There are many high lift devices used in an aircraft to generate more lift and to delay stalling of the wing. The devices used are either leading edge devices or trailing edge devices. Sometimes both leading and trailing edge devices may be used depending upon the aircraft and mission.

TRAILING EDGE DEVICES ARE:

Flaps: These are a primary high lift device in trailing edge. this device is used in almost every transport aircraft. this device comes into picture mostly at the time of take off and landing of an aircraft.They increase lift by increasing the camber of an airfoil. Flaps are further divided into types which are as under.

• Plain flap

• Split flap

•  Slotted flap

• Fowler flap

LEADING EDGE HIGH LIFT DEVICE:

• SLATS 
• SLOTS

Momentum wheel -a special case of reaction wheel

Momentum wheel is an emerging advance technology for attitude control systems of satellites being used now a days. Momentum wheel actually work on the principle of conservation of angular momentum. The whole thing consists of a wheel with a circuit attached having some kind of sensors. When these sensors detect some change in orientation of a satellite the wheelchair is rotated. When the wheel is rotated at high speed, angular momentum of high magnitude is generated and from newtons third law the satellite aft the wheel starts to rotate in opposite sense to that of wheel in order to nullify the angular momentum generated by the wheel. Thus whole process thus rotates the satellite in particular direction this changing it's orientation.  Now if we employ three wheels in all the three axis we can easily control a satellite and it's orientation around the earth in its orbit. This as a whole is often referred to as attitude control system of a satellite.

Fig: satellite being controlled by a single momentum wheel (shown at different locations at same time)

GUST

adverse weather is a circumstantial factor in nearly 40% of aproach-and-landing accidents. adverse wind conditions (i.e., strong cross winds, tailwind and gust) are involved in more than 30% of aproach-and-landing accidents and in 15% of events involving CFIT. TYPES OF GUST:- 1. Vertical Gust the variation of the horizontal wind component along the vertical axis, resulting in the turbulence that may affect the aircraft speed climbing or decending through the gust layer. the variation of the wind component of 20kt per 1000ft. to 30kt per 1000ft are typical values, but a vertical gust may reach upto 10kt per 1000ft. 2. Horizontal Gust the variation of the wind component along the horizontal axis(i.e., decreasing headwind or increasing tailwind, or a shift from a headwind to a tailwind). These variations of wind component may reach up to 100kt per nautical mile. refer the link below:-

solar sails

Harnessing the power of the Sun to propel a spacecraft may appear somewhat ambitious and
the observation that light exerts a force contradicts everyday experiences. However, it is an
accepted phenomenon that the quantum packets of energy which compose Sunlight, that is to
say photons, perturb the orbit attitude of spacecraft through conservation of momentum; this
perturbation is known as solar radiation pressure (SRP). To be exact, the momentum of the
electromagnetic energy from the Sun pushes the spacecraft and from Newton’s second law
momentum is transferred when the energy strikes and when it is reflected. The concept of
solar sailing is thus the use of these quantum packets of energy, i.e. SRP, to propel a spacecraft,
potentially providing a continuous acceleration limited only by the lifetime of the sail
materials in the space environment. The momentum carried by individual photons is
extremely small; at best a solar sail will experience 9 N of force per square kilometre of sail
located in Earth orbit (McInnes, 1999), thus to provide a suitably large momentum transfer the
sail is required to have a large surface area while maintaining as low a mass as possible.
Adding the impulse due to incident and reflected photons it is found that the idealised thrust
vector is directed normal to the surface of the sail, hence by controlling the orientation of the
sail relative to the Sun orbital angular momentum can be gained or reduced. Using
momentum change through reflecting such quantum packets of energy the sail slowly but
continuously accelerates to accomplish a wide-range of potential missions.solar sails may also be used in deciding the attitude of a spacecraft while in flight.

career in aerospace

Careers in Aerospace Technology A new century has begun. As a student you will be spending your life in the 21st century and the future may offer many unpredictable opportunities. It will be a time of space stations and robotic probes. Manned missions to other planets and moon outposts are future possibilities. All this, and more scientific accomplishments that have not even been dreamed of, will happen because Americans wants to live and work in space. Where Will You Be in 10 Years? The world will continue to need aerospace scientists, engineers, technologists and technicians to be ready for the 21st century. What Could An Aerospace Technology Career Mean for You? Aerospace workers are professionals who work independently or as part of a team. They conduct research, and de-sign and develop vehicles and systems for atmospheric and space environments. Individuals who are successful in aerospace careers have the proper educational background, possess good communications skills, and are committed to being part of a team. A wide variety of aerospace career fields offers opportunities for high job satisfaction and excellent compensation. What Education Will You Need Beyond High School? A career in aerospace as a scientist or engineer requires four to seven years of college study following high school. A bachelor’s degree requiring four years of study is the minimum necessary to enter this field. Colleges and universities also offer graduate programs where students can obtain master’s and doctoral degrees. The master’s program usually takes two years. An additional two to four years is needed to earn a doctorate. A starting position as an engineer, mathematician, physical scientist, or life scientist requires a bachelor’s degree. (A master’s and/doctoral degree is highly desirable in life sciences.) Some examples of engineering degrees required are electrical/electronics, aerospace, and mechanical. Other types of bachelor’s degrees that may lead to aerospace careers are: physics, chemistry, geology, meteorology, mathematics, experimental psychology and biology. Engineering technicians typically earn a two-year Associate of Science degree. Some may continue for two additional years and obtain a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology. Others may earn a bachelor’s degree in engineering or one of the physical sciences. A few complete a five-year apprenticeship program offered at some NASA field centers. How Do You Know if You Want An Aerospace Career? If you think you would be interested in a career in aerospace technology, check your potential for success by answering these questions: Do you enjoy math and science? Do you have an inquisitive and searching mind? Are you interested in knowing what makes things work? Do you like to solve problems and puzzles? Do you like to create things? Do you enjoy learning? Do you enjoy working with computers? Do you like to build things? Are you prepared to study hard and do homework? Do you achieve good grades? If you answered yes to most of the questions, you may want to consider an aerospace career. Some of the recom-mended high school courses are listed on the reverse side. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/FS-2001-09-68-LaRC.html

Objects of innovation in aerospace and defense

Objects of innovation in aerospace and defense 
The aerospace and defense industry has a proud history of creating innovations. For its first
75 years or so, these innovations were dominated by the quest of “higher, faster, farther”,
product innovations aimed at improving performance. Over the course of this run, the industry
introduced numerous new-to-the-world innovations, such as commercial air transport,
supersonic flight, and space flight, and then relentlessly perfected them. Many of these
innovations were embodied in large systems, such as aircraft, that perform a complex
function, like communications, air traffic control, or satellite navigation. These innovations
were the result of collective development efforts that combined numerous technologies from
multiple disciplines to create complex systems. Still today, portions of the aerospace and
defense industry are pursuing innovations for new, large-scale, complex systems. The Joint
Strike Fighter is a good example of a contemporary, large-scale, complex system. While
introducing some new-to-the-world technology such as its lift fan, JSF also will integrate a
host of functions and innovations into an avionics system that is reported to require 19 million
lines of source code. Innovation challenges of similar scale and complexity confront other
contemporary programs, such as the Airbus A380, Boeing’s 787, NASA’s Constellation
program, and the now defunct Future Combat System. It suffices to say that innovating within
the context of solving the challenges inherent in large complex programs is the hallmark of
this industry and remains an important customer need. Innovation in Aerospace & Defense
October 2009 Charles River Associates
However, that particular object of innovation—large, complex systems—is hardly
representative of all innovation the industry requires. Figure 1.4 conceptually depicts a wider
range of the objects of innovation in aerospace and defense, from simple, small innovations
that add only increments to a product’s performance to entire systems that are gargantuan on
all three dimensions of the array—complexity, scale/scope, and cost/schedule. For instance,
at the opposite end of the spectrum from large-complex systems are product improvements
that simply adapt or refine existing products/services or production/delivery systems. The
advance of turbine blade technologies, for example, represents such an incremental
improvement to a component technology. The realm of this array labeled integrated systems,
on the other hand, represents a diverse set of the complex systems that are commonplace in
aerospace and defense. These systems combine many elements together into subsystems
and vehicle platforms to perform relatively sophisticated multi-function missions. A list of good
examples of innovative integrated systems might include Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk
unmanned aerial vehicle, the several variants of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)
ground vehicles, and Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 1 launch vehicle. The system
solutions realm typically combines less complex elements together to perform a particular
mission or function but over a very large scale or scope. An example of such an innovative
pursuit of system solutions would be the Department of Homeland Security’s BioWatch
program, which seeks to develop more advanced capabilities to monitor major U.S.
population centers for airborne pathogens.
Scale / Scope
Complexity
Cost / Schedule
System of Systems Integrated System Element
Large-Complex
Systems
Integrated Systems
Product
Improvements
System Solutions
FCS
787
Turbine Blades
Falcon 1 JSF
MRAP
BioWatch
Global Hawk
Figure 1.4—Diversity of Innovation Types in Aerospace and Defense
The point of this second framework is simply to underscore the diversity among innovation
objects and organize their comparative significance in terms of the different kinds of Innovation in Aerospace & Defense
October 2009 Charles River Associates
 Page 9
innovation that different customers value. Speeding up product development or imposing flybefore-buy mandates, for instance, may make sense for less complex or incremental
innovations, but may not be appropriate or even possible for some large-complex
innovations. Instead, there needs to be a more nuanced approach toward innovation that
reflects an understanding of how the dynamic interaction of complexity, scale/scope, and
cost/schedule frames the nature of the problem. A single, uniform approach to fostering
higher rates of innovation risks wasting money, or, perhaps worse, risks actually undermining
industry’s ability to achieve the innovations required to retain technological and economic
leadership.
Like Utterback’s model of innovation dynamics, this model of innovation helps put
observations of what’s actually happening in the market into an analytical context that
facilitates understanding. Consider, for example, the several provocative indications in U.S.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ statement accompanying the fiscal year 2010 budget. In
it, Secretary Gates emphasized a resolve not to “spend limited tax dollars to buy more
capability than the nation needs.” He then moved to terminate a number of programs “where
the requirements were truly in the ‘exquisite’ category and the technologies required were not
reasonably available to affordably meet . . . cost or schedule goals.”10 Seen through the
prism of the models of innovation dynamics and innovation objects, these statements can be
seen most generally as the kind of customer sentiment that is characteristic of an industry
that is proceeding through a relatively mature stage of its overall lifecycle. They signal a
significant change in the kinds of innovation Pentagon customers value, change that favors
tailored solutions at lower costs and less risks achieved by focusing pursuits in the realms of
incremental product improvements and integrated systems rather than large-complex
systems. Gates also signals that as regards integrated systems in particular, the objects of
innovation that customers value is shifting toward lower complexity “satisficing” solutions.
Companies that want successfully to pursue innovations responsive to Gates’s indications of
customer need might tend to focus on process innovations that enable the delivery of costeffective, rapidly responsive integrated system and system solutions, not clean-sheet designs
for all-encompassing large-complex integrated systems of systems.
http://www.crai.com/uploadedFiles/Publications/innovation-in-aerospace-and-defense.pdf