Activity 3.1
Question: Suggest examples of engineering which tried , but failed to meet a particular need.
My Example: De Havilland Comet
Wikipedia Link….: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet
Other interesting Links….: http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=1&LLID=28&LLTypeID=2
Summary Why I have picked this.
I have chosen to focus on the De Havilland comet as my example of extremely successful engineering but also had equal catastrophic failures. These failures were later re designed and contributed towards most base model of most modern day aircraft.
One of the most famous issues with the De Havilland was the fact the aircraft was designed with square windows. The problem with this design started to become evident when an aircraft test was carried out under water to demonstrate a similar level of compression to what the aircraft would have to withstand during flight. The experiments soon demonstrated how the square window design upon the aircraft could not deal with the stress In such a localised area. Unlike modern day aircraft where the stress and strain can freely transfer around the oval shape the square windows simply formed an intense pressure of strain in one small area. The stress was so intense on the localised areas that it began to change the way in which the material characteristic acted which eventually resulted in in-flight break ups of the cabin fuselage leading to multiple fatal crashes.
What was changed / learnt. – Solution.
Aviation engineering and structural design learnt a huge lesson from this aircraft and that has resulted in the oval design of aircraft windows that we have today. These continue to be developed and re-designed be that in a different material or with the new features such as auto dimming which is quite a common feature upon new Boeing aircraft such as the Dreamliner.
Had the Havilland not gone through these “Modelling cycle” practices and unfortunately the loss of aircraft no one would have found this design feature simply from drawings or concept ideas.