Project 07 · AME 485 · Aerospace Structures I
Aerospace Structures I — Analysis Projects
AME 485 · Aerospace Structures I · University of Southern California
Course
AME 485 — Aerospace Structures I
Projects
5 Assignments + Midterm
Primary Tool
ANSYS Mechanical
Level
Undergraduate (B.S. Aerospace)
University
USC Viterbi
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Satellite Structure FEA — 10g Launch Loads
Applied ANSYS Workbench to simulate a satellite structure subjected to 10g launch acceleration loads. Covered aerospace failure modes including composite damage, bonded joint failures, fatigue, corrosion, BVID, and hail damage. Post-processed elastic strain contour plots and total deformation results to evaluate structural margins under worst-case launch loading.
Aircraft Fuselage — Cabin Pressure Differential FEA
Analyzed failure modes in the James Webb Space Telescope and studied Challenger and Columbia disaster case studies using Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagrams and FMEA methodology. Performed ANSYS FEA on an aircraft fuselage section under cabin pressure differential loading — extracting von Mises stress, total deformation, and identifying window cutout stress concentrations.
Valve Component FEA — Pressure-to-Failure Analysis
Performed iterative ANSYS structural analysis on a valve component subjected to increasing internal pressure loads. Meshed the geometry, applied boundary conditions, and evaluated total deformation and von Mises stress against MMPDS material allowables for AISI 4135 steel. Iterated load cases to determine the failure pressure and margins of safety using aerospace design factors.