Design and Development of Aircraft Systems, 3rd Edition

Design and Development of Aircraft Systems, 3rd Edition

by Allan Seabridge, Ian Moir
Released April 2020
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119611509

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Book description

Provides a significant update to the definitive book on aircraft system design

This book is written for anyone who wants to understand how industry develops the customer requirement for aircraft into a fully integrated, tested, and qualified product that is safe to fly and fit for purpose. The new edition of Design and Development of Aircraft Systems fully expands its already comprehensive coverage to include both conventional and unmanned systems. It also updates all chapters to bring them in line with current design practice and technologies taught in courses at Cranfield, Bristol, and Loughborough universities in the UK.

Design and Development of Aircraft Systems, 3rd Edition begins with an introduction to the subject. It then introduces readers to the aircraft systems (airframe, vehicle, avionic, mission, and ground systems). Following that comes a chapter on the design and development process. Other chapters look at design drivers, systems architectures, systems integration, verification of system requirements, practical considerations, and configuration control. The book finishes with sections that discuss the potential impact of complexity on flight safety, key characteristics of aircraft systems, and more.

  • Provides a holistic view of aircraft system design, describing the interactions among subsystems such as fuel, navigation, flight control, and more
  • Substantially updated coverage of systems engineering, design drivers, systems architectures, systems integration, modelling of systems, practical considerations, and systems examples
  • Incorporates essential new material on the regulatory environment for both manned and unmanned systems
  • Discussion of trends towards complex systems, automation, integration and the potential for an impact on flight safety 

Design and Development of Aircraft Systems, 3rd Edition is an excellent book for aerospace engineers, researchers, and graduate students involved in the field.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. About the Authors
  3. Series Preface
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Glossary of Terms
  6. 1 Introduction
    1. 1.1 General
    2. 1.2 Systems Development
    3. 1.3 Skills
    4. 1.4 Human Aspects
    5. 1.5 Overview
    6. Exercises
    7. References
    8. Further Reading
  7. 2 The Aircraft Systems
    1. 2.1 Introduction
    2. 2.2 Definitions
    3. 2.3 Everyday Examples of Systems
    4. 2.4 Aircraft Systems of Interest
    5. 2.5 Ground Systems
    6. 2.6 Generic System Definition
    7. Exercises
    8. References
    9. Further Reading
  8. 3 The Design and Development Process
    1. 3.1 Introduction
    2. 3.2 Definitions
    3. 3.3 The Product Lifecycle
    4. 3.4 Concept Phase
    5. 3.5 Definition Phase
    6. 3.6 Design Phase
    7. 3.7 Build Phase
    8. 3.8 Test Phase
    9. 3.9 Operate Phase
    10. 3.10 Disposal or Retirement Phase
    11. 3.11 Refurbishment Phase
    12. 3.12 Whole Lifecycle Tasks
    13. 3.13 Summary
    14. Exercises
    15. References
    16. Further Reading
  9. 4 Design Drivers
    1. 4.1 Introduction
    2. 4.2 Design Drivers in the Business Environment
    3. 4.3 Design Drivers in the Project Environment
    4. 4.4 Design Drivers in the Product Environment
    5. 4.5 Design Drivers in the Product Operating Environment
    6. 4.6 Interfaces with the Sub‐system Environment
    7. 4.7 Obsolescence
    8. 4.8 Ageing Aircraft
    9. Exercises
    10. References
    11. Further Reading
  10. 5 System Architectures
    1. 5.1 Introduction
    2. 5.2 Definitions
    3. 5.3 System Architectures
    4. 5.4 Architecture Modelling and Trade‐off
    5. 5.5 Example of a Developing Architecture
    6. 5.6 Evolution of Avionics Architectures
    7. 5.7 Example Architectures
    8. Exercises
    9. References
    10. Further Reading
  11. 6 System Integration
    1. 6.1 Introduction
    2. 6.2 Definitions
    3. 6.3 Examples of System Integration
    4. 6.4 System Integration Skills
    5. 6.5 Management of System Integration
    6. 6.6 Highly Integrated Systems
    7. 6.7 Discussion
    8. Exercises
    9. References
    10. Further Reading
  12. 7 Verification of System Requirements
    1. 7.1 Introduction
    2. 7.2 Gathering Qualification Evidence in the Lifecycle
    3. 7.3 Test Methods
    4. 7.4 An Example Using a Radar System
    5. 7.5 Summary
    6. Exercises
    7. References
    8. Further Reading
  13. 8 Practical Considerations
    1. 8.1 Introduction
    2. 8.2 Stakeholders
    3. 8.3 Communications
    4. 8.4 Giving and Receiving Criticism
    5. 8.5 Supplier Relationships
    6. 8.6 Engineering Judgement
    7. 8.7 Complexity
    8. 8.8 Emergent Properties
    9. 8.9 Aircraft Wiring and Connectors
    10. 8.10 Bonding and Grounding
    11. References
    12. Further Reading
  14. 9 Configuration Control
    1. 9.1 Introduction
    2. 9.2 Configuration Control Process
    3. 9.3 A Simple Portrayal of a System
    4. 9.4 Varying System Configurations
    5. 9.5 Forwards and Backwards Compatibility
    6. 9.6 Factors Affecting Compatibility
    7. 9.7 System Evolution
    8. 9.8 Configuration Control
    9. 9.9 Interface Control
    10. 9.10 Control of Day‐to‐Day Documents
    11. Exercise
  15. Chapter 10: Aircraft System Examples
    1. 10.1 Introduction
    2. 10.2 Design Considerations
    3. 10.3 Safety and Economic Considerations
    4. 10.4 Failure Severity Categorisation
    5. 10.5 Design Assurance Levels
    6. 10.6 Redundancy
    7. 10.7 Integration of Aircraft Systems
    8. 10.8 Integration of Avionics Systems
    9. References
  16. 11 Integration and Complexity
    1. 11.1 Introduction
    2. 11.2 Integration
    3. 11.3 Complexity
    4. 11.4 Automation
    5. 11.5 Impact on Flight Safety Discussion
    6. 11.6 Single‐pilot Operations
    7. 11.7 Postscript: Chaos Discussion
    8. Exercises
    9. References
    10. Further Reading
  17. 12 Key Characteristics of Aircraft Systems
    1. 12.1 Introduction
    2. 12.2 Aircraft Systems
    3. 12.3 Avionics Systems
    4. 12.4 Mission Systems
    5. 12.5 Sizing and Scoping Systems
    6. 12.6 Analysis of the Fuel Penalties of Aircraft Systems
    7. Nomenclature
    8. References
  18. 13 Conclusions
    1. 13.1 What's Next?
    2. 13.2 A Historical Footnote
    3. References
  19. Index
  20. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Design and Development of Aircraft Systems, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Allan Seabridge, Ian Moir
  • Release date: April 2020
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119611509