Knowing what materials to use and how to manufacture aircraft parts is important. So is understanding the types of aircraft and spacecraft structures. But what happens when an aircraft flies at a high altitude, or a spacecraft is subjected to the extreme forces of escaping Earth’s gravity?

In module 4, we look at these loads and how they affect aircraft and spacecraft.  After this introduction there is a short survey about your opinion on the course so far. Please help us by filling it in.

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Describe the most relevant loads for an aircraft
• Identify loads as “static” or “dynamic”
• Identify loads as “concentrated” or “distributed”
• Describe how loads “run” through an aircraft structure
• Describe how loads are introduced in aircraft structures
• Describe the most relevant loads for spacecraft
• Describe the internal load cases of a fuselage, namely pressurization and torsion
• Describe the internal load case of the bending of a wing spar