AXFAB - Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building

The Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building, which will open in Fall of 2006, will house a fabrication suite which can be used for both aeronautical and astronautical engineering. In this new building, students will be able to design, fabricate and test components of their own.

 

This 20,000 square foot facility will open in the Fall of 2006. The building is focused around fabrication and experimental facilities

Fabrication Suite:

A student working in the machine shop grinds down sharp edges on a component that he built. The component can then be tested in another lab, or implemented into a larger system. Three separate facilities constitute the fabrication suite. The core of the group is the machine shop with welding, painting, machining, and layout facilities. On the east side of the machine shop is a light fabrication area dedicated to aeronautical engineering; on the west side there is a similar lab dedicated to fabrication for astronautical engineering. The suite will enable students to fabricate aerospace components with competent supervision while having CNC facilities available in the machine shop.

Materials Science Lab

Dr. Lanning looks through the electron microscope at a sample of metal. By using the microscope, students can study the structure and fundemental make up of the materials that they use.The images gathered by the electron microscope can be recorded by a state-of-the-art computer, which can be used to further analyze the sample. The recorded images can then be used in presentations and analysis papers.

The materials science lab is actually made up of multiple labs. Within this facility students will heat treat material, prepare specimens with surface grinders and study the fundamental make up of materials. Within the lab is a scanning electron microscope, and multiple optical microscopes. This represents the micro side of structural mechanics.

Materials Testing Lab

A student prepares to do a tensile test on a sample material. These tests can help students decide which type of material to use, and to understand the benefits of one material over another.This lab concentrates on the preparation and testing of physical material specimens used in aerospace platforms. Tensile testing machines that incorporate environment live in this lab. Fatigue testing facilities also reside in this laboratory. This represents the meso side of structural mechanics

Structures Lab

This laboratory is designed around the premise of testing full size aerospace structures to destruction. The lab has a specialized "structures floor" which enables students to connect a fixture weighing several tons to the floor and access instrumentation and high pressure hydraulics from below the floor. The lab will use hydraulic actuators to test specimens as large as 18ft in span through a regime of flight or fatigue loads. This represents the macro side of structural mechanics.

 

Structural Dynamics Lab

Senior students test their capstone project on the shaker table. The project must pass these tests in order for the students to graduate.In the structural dynamics lab students will use the Unholtz-Dickey two axis electromagnetic shaker to simulate the vibrational environment of a space launch. Students prepare their satellite, rover, or other space hardware and determine if their design survives vibrations from a Space Shuttle, DeltaIV, Pegasus or other launch environment.

 

Space Systems Lab

In the space systems lab, students who have pursued the astronautical engineering track of aerospace engineering will utilize 3D air-bearings to simulate attitude and control of spacecraft. They will use vacuum chambers to simulate space environment and be able to transmit and receive signals from space through a ground based communications system.

Composites Lab

This laboratory is equipped to enable students to fabricate composite parts for applications in spacecraft and aircraft. The lab is stocked with epoxy and vinyl-ester based matrix with composite fabrics that include kevlar, e-glass and carbon fiber.

Rapid Prototyping Lab

This model components were designed on the computer, and then made by a 3-D printer which produces scale models of components that can be put together to make a working model of a project.Two stereo-lithography printers are the workhorses for this lab. 3D printers are used for visualization and fit and function within the curriculum. Students in EGR101, EGR200 and the capstone sequence use these printers to print structural parts for robotics projects, the lighter-than-air project and the capstone series. CATIA and Solidworks are used as the primary interface for these machines. These CAD tools are explored and exercised in the Freshman year with EGR101 in the Sophomore year in EGR200 and finally in the senior capstone series.