In Plain Terms; Breakdown Of Aerospace Engineering

Control engineering is the study of
mathematical modeling of the dynamic behavior of systems and
designing them, usually using feedback signals, so that their
dynamic behavior is desirable (stable, without large excursions,
with minimum error) applies to the dynamic behavior of aircraft,
spacecraft, propulsion systems, and subsystems that exist on
aerospace vehicles.

Aerospace structures
- design of the physical configuration of the craft to
withstand the forces encountered during flight. Aerospace
engineering aims to keep structures lightweight by way of computer
numerical controlled

CNC manufacturing
and other processes.

Materials science is related to structures; aerospace
engineering also studies the materials of which the

aero-structures
are to be built. New materials with very specific
properties are invented, or existing ones are modified to improve
their performance.
Solid mechanics, which is closely related to material science
is solid mechanics, deals with stress and strain analysis of the
components of the vehicle. Nowadays there are several Finite
Element programs such as MSC Patran/Nastran which aid engineers in
the analytical and

aerospace manufacturing
process.

Aeroelasticity - the interaction of aerodynamic forces and
structural flexibility, potentially causing flutter, divergence,
etc.
Avionics - the design and programming of computer systems on
board an aircraft or spacecraft and the simulation of systems.
Risk and reliability - the study of risk and reliability
assessment techniques and the mathematics involved in the
quantitative methods.
Noise control - the study of the mechanics of sound transfer.
Flight test - designing and executing flight test programs in
order to gather and analyze performance and handling qualities data
in order to determine if an aircraft meets its design and
performance goals and certification requirements.

The basis of most of these elements lies in theoretical
mathematics, such as fluid dynamics for aerodynamics or the
equations of motion for flight dynamics. However, there is also a
large empirical component. Historically, this empirical component
was derived from testing of scale models and prototypes, either in
wind tunnels or in the free atmosphere. More recently, advances in
computing have enabled the use of computational fluid dynamics to
simulate the behavior of fluid, reducing time and expense spent on
wind-tunnel testing. For additional information, visit
www.arnoldeng.com to learn
more.