Basics 9 min read
The Navier-Stokes Equation
The name we use for our little blue planet “Earth” is rather misleading. Water makes up about 71% of Earth’s…
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Browse our articles in publication order, with new stories added automatically.
Basics 11 min read
What Creates Lift – How Do Wings Work?
How airplanes fly is one one of the most fundamental questions in aerospace engineering. Given its importance to flight, it is surprising…
Basics 13 min read
Control and Stability of Aircraft
One of the key factors in the Wright brothers’ achievement of building the first heavier-than-air aircraft was their insight that a functional…
Basics 5 min read
Bio-mimetic Drag Reduction – Part 1: Sensing
Fish have a remarkable ability to sense the flow conditions around their bodies and subsequently manipulate their swimming behaviour to…
Basics 6 min read
Bio-mimetic Drag Reduction – Part 2: Aero- and Hydrodynamics
Part 1 of this blog series outlined the different sensing mechanisms that aquatic animals possess to create spatial images of the…
Basics 7 min read
Bio-mimetic Drag Reduction – Part 3: Morphing
In the previous two posts of this blog series I introduced the different sensing mechanism that aquatic animals possess to create…
Basics 3 min read
Dreams of Flight
Since the early days of human intelligence the dream of flying and the idea that we are not alone in…
Basics 5 min read
High-Lift Devices
In a previous post I introduced the concept of boundary layer separation and how aquatic animals actively or passively morph their…
Basics 6 min read
The Evolution of Airplanes
Adrian Bejan is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University and as an offshoot from his thermodynamics research…
Basics 5 min read
The Birth of the Jet: The Engine that Shrunk the World
In today’s time it is easy to take for granted the complex inventions that alleviate our everyday life. The modern…
Basics 8 min read
Jet Engine Design and Optimisation
For aircraft jet propulsion there are in general four distinct designs: the turbojet, turbofan (or bypass engine), turboprop and turboshaft.…
Basics 7 min read
Variable Stiffness Composites
In previous posts I have discussed the unique characteristics and manufacturing processes of a certain type of composite material, namely continuous fibre-reinforced plastics (FRPs).…
