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Flight Vehicle Aerodynamics
Master aircraft aerodynamics: Learn physics, theories, and models for analyzing and designing modern aircraft in this 16-week MIT course.
Master aircraft aerodynamics: Learn physics, theories, and models for analyzing and designing modern aircraft in this 16-week MIT course.
Immerse yourself in the world of flight vehicle aerodynamics with MIT's comprehensive course. Explore the fundamental physics, concepts, theories, and models that form the backbone of aerodynamic analysis and design for modern aircraft. The course emphasizes velocity field representation and modeling using source and vorticity fields, along with their idealizations. You'll develop an intuitive understanding of aerodynamic flowfield behavior and learn to analyze aerodynamic forces, decompose drag, estimate flow interference, and apply these concepts to real-world scenarios. The curriculum includes computational methods to enhance your understanding of flow behavior and identify primary aerodynamic forces on maneuvering aircraft. A brief overview of flight dynamics completes this intensive study, equipping you with essential skills for aeronautical engineering and design.
Instructors:
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What you'll learn
Model and predict aerodynamic flows around wings and bodies
Quantify the impact of viscous boundary layers on drag and lift
Optimize lift distribution on aircraft wings
Analyze experimental flow data to determine profile drag
Describe maneuvering aircraft motion and calculate aerodynamic forces
Predict airloads on unsteady airfoils
Skills you'll gain
This course includes:
Live video
Concept questions, Weekly homework assignments, Midterm exam, Final exam
Access on Mobile, Tablet, Desktop
Limited Access access
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Module Description
This comprehensive course on flight vehicle aerodynamics covers the fundamental physics, concepts, theories, and models essential for understanding and analyzing modern aircraft design. Students will delve into velocity field representation and modeling techniques, using source and vorticity fields along with their idealizations. The course aims to instill an intuitive grasp of aerodynamic flowfield behavior and provide a solid foundation for aerodynamic force analysis, drag decomposition, and flow interference estimation. Computational methods are introduced to offer additional insights into flow behavior and to identify primary aerodynamic forces on maneuvering aircraft. Topics covered include viscous boundary layers, lift distribution optimization, experimental flow survey data analysis, aircraft motion description, unsteady airfoil airloads prediction, and the effects of compressibility in high-speed aerodynamic flows. A brief overview of flight dynamics complements the aerodynamics focus, giving students a well-rounded understanding of aircraft behavior. Through a combination of video lectures, problem-solving sessions, and rigorous assessments, students will develop the skills necessary to model, predict, and optimize aerodynamic performance in various flight scenarios.
Fee Structure
Instructors
1 Course
Pioneering Aerodynamicist Revolutionizing Computational Aircraft Design
Mark Drela, born July 1, 1959, has established himself as one of the world's foremost aeronautical engineers since joining MIT's faculty in 1986, where he now serves as the Terry J. Kohler Professor of Fluid Dynamics. His remarkable career began at MIT, where he earned his S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, driven by a passion for aviation that started in his native Poland building model airplanes at age five. His groundbreaking contributions include developing widely-used computational tools like XFOIL, Athena Vortex Lattice (AVL), and MISES, which revolutionized aerodynamic design by making it faster and more accessible. His expertise has shaped numerous significant projects, from the record-setting Daedalus human-powered aircraft that flew 72.4 miles from Crete to Santorini in 1988, to designing aircraft for Boeing and the wing for the Predator UAV. In 1991, he set another world record with Decavitator, a human-powered hydrofoil reaching 18.5 knots on Boston's Charles River. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2009 and named a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Drela is equally renowned for his teaching excellence, maintaining 24/7 availability to students while delivering lectures filled with original insights. His research continues to advance computational algorithms for predicting 2D and 3D external flows about aerodynamic bodies, spanning subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flow regimes
Pioneering Aerospace Engineer Advancing Sustainable Aviation Technology
Dr. Alejandra Uranga serves as a Gabilan Assistant Professor at USC's Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, where she has established herself since 2016. Her academic journey includes a diverse international education, beginning with a Mathematics degree from Université Paris 7 Denis Diderot, followed by a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, an MASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Victoria, and a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. Before joining USC, she spent five and a half years at MIT as a Postdoctoral Associate and Research Engineer, where she led the groundbreaking D8 double-bubble aircraft project under NASA's N+3 program. Her research focuses on aerodynamics, novel aircraft design, and integrated propulsion systems, combining computational and experimental approaches to advance sustainable aviation. As founder and director of USC's Aerodynamic Design and Research Laboratory, she continues to push boundaries in aerospace innovation, earning recognition through numerous awards including the USC Provost's Assistant Professor Fellowship and maintaining an impressive publication record with over 250 citations for her work on implicit large eddy simulation.
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