Aerospace Engineering

Since the days of the Wright Brothers, aerospace engineering fields have expanded to a wide variety of applications, including car design, meteorology and even biomedical devices. The Ohio State University provides students in aerospace engineering with a broad range of opportunities. The unique combination of a large university and small class sizes allows the Department of Aerospace Engineering to foster an atmosphere of ingenuity and independence.

About the Department

Aeronautical engineering was developed at Ohio State in 1946. The Department of Aerospace Engineering was formed in 2005 when the former Department of Aerospace Engineering and Aviation was separated into two distinct departments to allow both to focus on research and teaching unique to each discipline. Courses in the Department of Aerospace Engineering include topics from basic flow properties to modern computational fluid dynamics, air-breathing and rocket propulsion, flight dynamics, control systems, satellites and interplanetary vehicles.

Research

The Department of Aerospace Engineering is home to the Aeronautical & Astronautical Research Laboratory, based at the university‘s airport, Don Scott Field. The laboratory, which has provided experimental aerospace research services for more than 50 years, has features including subsonic, transonic-subsonic, supersonic, hypersonic and plasma jet wind tunnels; a Beech Sundowner flight test aircraft; rocket engine test cells; ruby, glass and CO2 laser systems; and a space propulsion (plasma) test facility.

In addition, Ohio‘s prominence in aircraft engine research and gas turbine engine manufacturing is further enhanced by our unique Gas Turbine Laboratory at the Aeronautical & Astronautical Research Laboratory. Its specially built facilities feature a large shock tunnel, a spin pit and several smaller blow-down rigs. New technology developed at our Gas Turbine Laboratory and research facilities elsewhere is crucial to the continued success of American companies that manufacture turbine engines for commercial airliners. On the university‘s main campus, the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory features a low-turbulence wind tunnel, constant temperature hot-wire anemometers and a pressure sensor system for airfoil studies.

Opportunities for Students

Programs of graduate study leading to both master‘s and doctoral degrees are offered in the Aerospace Engineering Program. Graduate students may specialize in dynamics and control, flight mechanics, structural mechanics, fluid dynamics/aerodynamics or propulsion and power.

Dynamics and Control

The primary emphasis is on dynamics and control of flexible structures with specific applications to spacecraft and aircraft. A typical program of study consists of a number of courses in mechanics and structural systems, taken from the Departments of Aerospace Engineering, Aviation and Mechanical Engineering, such as Finite Element Method, Structural Dynamics and Analytical Dynamics. To satisfy requirements in control, students will study Aircraft and Spacecraft Automatic Control Systems I and II, Stability and Control of Flight Vehicles, Analytical Dynamics of Astronautics, and Advanced Flight Vehicle Stability and Control. In addition, other courses in control theory can be taken from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Flight Mechanics

Graduate study in flight mechanics contains course work and research in vehicle performance, stability and control. A typical program would include several courses in aerospace engineering as well as courses in other departments such as mechanical engineering or electrical engineering depending on the student‘s area of interest. Courses taken in aerospace engineering usually include Flight Test Engineering, Aircraft and Spacecraft Automatic Control Systems I and II, Stability and Control of Flight Vehicles, Aeroelasticity, Flight Vehicle Performance Analysis and Advanced Flight Vehicle Stability and Control. Additional courses in controls and in aerodynamics, propulsion or structures may be taken in aerospace engineering.

Structural Mechanics

Graduate students specializing in aerospace structural mechanics will take courses in aerospace engineering and in other departments such as mechanical engineering and industrial systems engineering and conduct research in composites materials, optimization and stability of structures. A partial list of courses includes: Advanced Structures for Flight Vehicles, Vibration of Continuous System, Elastic Stability, Plates and Shells, Structural Composites, Introduction to the Finite Element Method, Deformation of Aerospace Structures, Advanced Fracture Mechanics and Linear and Nonlinear Programming.

Fluid Dynamics/Aerodynamics

Graduate studies in fluid dynamics and aerodynamics emphasize the areas of theoretical and computational fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic stability, turbulence and applied and experimental aerodynamics. In planning a program of study, student can choose from a wide range of courses within the department, depending on their interests. Typically, courses are chosen from the following offerings in the Department of Aerospace Engineering: Introduction to Computational Aerodynamics, Advanced Compressible Flow, Aerodynamics of Viscous Compressible Flows, Hypersonics Flows I, Analytical Methods in Engineering I, Analytical Methods in Engineering II, Advanced Topics in Aerodynamics, Advanced Viscous Flow Theory, Hydrodynamic Stability of Fluid Motions, Molecular Theory of Gas Flows, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Introduction to Turbulence. Other courses in related areas can be taken from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics and Physics.

Propulsion and Power

Graduate study in propulsion and power emphasizes the interchange of energy between fluid flows, chemical reactions and electromagnetic fields, with particular application to aeronautical and astronautical systems. At present, there are a number of research activities in the areas of computational methods in turbomachinery and space propulsion. Typically, courses are chosen from the following offerings in the Department of Aerospace Engineering: Advanced Propulsion, Aerodynamics of Viscous Compressible Flows, Hypersonic Flows, Advanced Propulsion Problems and Molecular Theory of Gas Flows. In addition, selected courses in Electromagnetic Theory, Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics may be taken depending on the student‘s background.