Aerospace Dissertation Ideas?

FINALLY 20 posts!!!

Right, so here's the issue. I'm in my second year studying Aerospace Engineering at uni + next year I have to write my dissertation, and I want you guys' opinion on topics for it.

I'm specialising in the computational + structural side of aerospace for my degree + I was thinking possibly morphing wings? I want something that's really interesting and that I want to research about seeing as this is 1/4 of my degree...

Suggestions on a postcard please

reply to post by Florasaurus


Awww... You mean I can't write half your dissertation in the process of suggesting a topic for it? lol.... What fun is that? How about this?

Flexible, high-strength polymer aerogels deliver "super-insulation" properties




It doesn't get much better for pure "Neat" factor in aerospace than that, does it? More to the point, as things start increasing in speeds beyond currently stated maximums, won't insulation like that be a required factor just to maintain electronics and pilots inside the aircraft traveling at them?

Just my humble suggestion..if it happens to fit your overall considerations, anyway.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


That stuff looks EPIC. I don't suppose there's any chance of me being able to get my hands on for testing though??

reply to post by Florasaurus
You can combine this,

Electroactive Polymers, or EAPs, are polymers that exhibit a change in size or shape when stimulated by an electric field. The most common applications of this type of material are in actuators and sensors. A typical characteristic property of an EAP is that they will undergo a large amount of deformation while sustaining large forces. The majority of historic actuators are made of ceramic piezoelectric materials. While these materials are able to withstand large forces, they commonly will only deform a fraction of a percent. In the late 1990s, it has been demonstrated that some EAPs can exhibit up to a 380% strain, which is much more than any ceramic actuator.[1] One of the most common applications for EAPs is in the field of robotics in the development of artificial muscles; thus, an electroactive polymer is often referred to as an artificial muscle

en.wikipedia.org...

with this

The three actuation responses that can be achieved by artificial muscles are contraction, expansion, and rotation. These three components can be combined together within one body to produce other types of motions (e.g. bending: by contracting one side of the material while expanding the other side). Motors and pneumatic linear or rotary actuators may not be called artificial muscles because there are more than one part involved in the actuation.
Artificial muscles can be divided into four major groups based on their actuation mechanism [1]:
Actuation based on applying electric field: Electroactive polymers (EAPs) such as dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), relaxor ferroelectric polymers, and liquid crystal elastomers fall under this category.
Actuation based on gas pressure: Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) operate by a pressurized air filling a pneumatic bladder. Upon applying gas pressure to the bladder, isotropic volume expansion is expected, however the tough braided wires that confines the bladder, translate the volume expansion to a linear contraction along the axis of the actuator. McKibben artificial muscle belongs to this category and can only contract or expand upon applying pressure.
Actuation based on movement of ions: In this category, in addition to application of electric field, ions are required to make the actuation happen; therefore, the actuation occurs in a wet environment. Ionic electroactive polymers (also known as wet electroactive polymers) such as conducting polymers, and ionic polymer metal composites (IPMC) belong to this group. Recently it has been demonstrated that twisted carbon nanotubes can be actuated in electrolyte upon applying electric field. [2]
Actuation based on thermal expansion: A new type of electric field activated, electrolyte-free muscles called twisted yarn actuators has been recently introduced to the field [3][1]. The mechanism of operation is based on thermal expansion of a guest material within the conductive twisted structure. Materials with negative thermal expansion coefficient also can be engineered to actuate upon Joule heating.

en.wikipedia.org...

and this

In health care and medicine biological nanosensors are being developed in the next 5 years and will be used for fast and accurate diagnostics. Further ahead, nanotechnology may be used to build artificial muscle and 'lab on a chip' technology will develop more efficient drug discovery processes.

www.rsc.org...

and this,

. Graphene is 100 times stronger than steel of the same thickness. It conducts both heat and electricity better than copper, and has outstanding optical and mechanical properties. If it could be produced on an industrial scale, graphene might revolutionize fields such as electronics and even body armor. Recently, the European Union awarded the Finnish company Nokia a $1.3 billion research grant to commercialize graphene. What follows are 10 areas in which graphene could make a huge difference -- some sooner than you think.
Graphene is the world's new wonder material. It's the thinnest electronic material ever invented, consisting of a layer of carbon atoms just a single atom thick -- the atoms are arranged in a hexagonal pattern. It weighs almost nothing, coming in at only 0.77 grams for a square meter.

news.discovery.com...

reply to post by Florasaurus


Heck, I don't know... Find out what defense contractors use the stuff and write a letter to ask! I'm serious. I've been rather amazed by how friendly and outgoing people can be when I just outright ask. It's like I'm an alien or something.

I don't think they often have people do that in a credible way for credible reasons. I'm sure you have an .edu email address from your University? Insure everything is sent through that official address, so they know from the first message, you aren't a kid playing games or something else. It's been my experience so far though, that .edu email address is as good as a key for opening doors which might not even have been answered otherwise.

(They may want a tad more verification on a thing like this, of course....but heck, they may also see it as a bonus chance to put a good face on for others in your Uni- program. It's a recruiting pool as much as anything, right?)

reply to post by piequal3because14


That's fantastic, thank you

I knew there were things like this that used electric fields to move materials, but I didn't know it was so advanced, I thought it was just speculation at the moment. Thank you so much!!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


That's a very good point, I don't know until I try I've got a .ac.uk email address which is the UK equivalent of .edu so it should still be alright... I'll go hunting and try and find someone to bother about getting a sample

Thank you so much!!

reply to post by Florasaurus

I knew there were things like this that used electric fields to move materials, but I didn't know it was so advanced, I thought it was just speculation at the moment. Thank you so much!!

Oh I am so glad I could be a help.

Also in a small amount it will be used on this,

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'll suggest a good way to not get work in your field or even get your paper accepted and why you wouldn't want to anyway:

Collect and study the relatively new phenomena of triangular craft being witnessed and photographed over the last few decades and you can explain why there was no follow up to the shuttle and that space exploration by the US seems, apparently, to have stalled.

Your explanation will present data that those craft can move quietly and slowly without the use of atmospheric lift or conventional power sources such as jet or rocket engines. That being the case shown by your collection of data, you can suggest that these are highly secret craft that have revolutionized means of transportation both near Earth's surface and into deep space. You can even make the bold statement in your closing that these secret craft represent the greatest advancement in locomotion since the invention of the wheel. (You will NOT mention that they may have derived from ET craft, however, that would be a scientific sin.)

If you do an excellent job of preparing and presenting that work, it will get you blackballed by any aerospace industry that may have otherwise hired you, and you will then confidently move onto another field knowing personally and full-well that much of the aerospace industry in the US today is a façade and it is unlikely that you would ever get to work of the real cutting-edge anyway.

reply to post by Aliensun


Funnily enough, I was considering that as one of my options

That's my after-hours unofficial research project lol