ESDU: Validated engineering design methods

Ensure optimal product design, performance, safety and compliance.

Drawing upon a legacy of more than 70 years, the Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU) provides reliable validated engineering design data, methods and software to engineers and designers.

ESDU offers 1,500+ design guides, many including software, through flexible subscriptions. Sixteen dedicated committees, made up of 230+ global industry, academic and government experts, validate the technical content in each ESDU series, resulting in a unique, unsurpassed engineering knowledge base. Many ESDU guides contain unpublished information – available only through ESDU.

Engineering and academic professionals use ESDU to:

Improve designs, ensure quality, aid compliance
Complement in-house design manuals, codes, standards, and analysis tools
Solve technical problems faster and develop innovative solutions
Shorten certification cycles with prior ESDU recognition from major global aviation authorities
Bring better products to market faster and reduce costs

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Your ESDU data series, with derivations, explanations, references, graphs, tables and examples
The ESDU Engineering Service
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- Customer support for access and computer issues
- Direct access to engineering experts who will help you solve design problems
- Training on ESDU products
Periodic data revisions for all annual subscribers

Dive deeper into the content: ESDU products

ESDU Series

Aerodynamics

Data and methods applicable to the project design of aircraft, guided weapons, space rockets, including:

Atmospheric properties
Airframe components, including effect of powerplant/airframe interactions for propeller-powered and jet aircraft
Effect of surface imperfections on drag
Controls, flaps and leading-edge devices
Aircraft stability, including derivative estimation
Internal flow and propulsion systems
Related Tools
- International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) app
- Wing lift-curve slope app

Aircraft noise

Validated data on the prediction, propagation and suppression of aircraft noise, with applications beyond aerospace industry related to noise barriers and sound propagation. Includes data on noise prediction and sound propagation:

Propulsion system noise
Jet noise, including static-to-flight effects, propeller noise, airframe noise and boundary layer noise
Cabin noise
Atmospheric attenuation and ground reflection effects in the presence of wind and temperature gradients
Attenuation provided by noise barriers

Composite structures

Data for use in the design of fiber-reinforced laminated composite structures, including:

Failure criteria
Plate vibration and buckling
Bonded joint analysis
Stress concentrations
Calculation of basic stiffnesses and stresses, including built-in thermal stresses
Design guidance and suggested methods

Aircraft Dynamics

Data for the stability, response and controllability of any system that can be modeled, for some part of its motion, by linear constant coefficient differential equations. Includes:

Aircraft topics: Motion equations, conversion formulae for rotation/translation of body axes, geometric/kinematic relationships for various axis systems, direction/incidence angles and damping measures
Lateral aircraft motion , handling qualities, loading and aeroelasticity
Linear system design: stability, response, control and assessment
Methods for treatment of first- and second-order systems
Non-linear system design
Related Tools
- Wing lift-curve slope app

Fatigue Endurance Data

Methods and data for strength calculations for aircraft and aerospace structures, including:

Constant amplitude stress-endurance curves (S-N curves) for aircraft materials (aluminum and titanium alloys/steels) and structural joints (riveted, bolted or bonded)
Stress concentration factors
Principles for designing against metal fatigue
Statistical methods for dealing with small samples in design
Correlated data on loading, resulting from gusts, taxing/ground operations

Fracture Mechanics

Methods and data for strength calculations for aircraft and aerospace structures, including:

Strength analysis of cracked/flawed structures or components
Curves of crack propagation growth rate versus stress intensity factor range under constant amplitude fatigue loading
Principles of fracture mechanics
Methods of compounding to obtain stress intensity factors for "real life" complex geometries from simple theoretical solutions
Data for stress intensity factors for the complex case of a pin-loaded lug
Crack resistance curves for aeronautical metallic materials

Fluid Mechanics

Methods and data for day-to-day evaluation of fluid flow through various piping systems for rapid, reliable estimates of fluid flow parameters, including:

Hand calculation methods
Computer programs based on empirically-derived correlations
Numerical methods

Heat Transfer

Methods and data to evaluate or predict the performance of heat transfer equipment and the costing of heat exchangers, including:

Step-by-step calculation methods
Single-phase forced and free convection in straight, annular and coiled tubing, together with the pressure loss and heat transfer resulting from tube inserts/roughened surfaces
Forced convection over cylinders/tube banks and free convection/radiation from simple shapes
Heat pipe design/performance prediction, appropriate temperature measuring devices, and refractory lining materials requirements
Condensation
Evaporation
Heat exchanger selection/costing, performance and design
Process integration, fouling and vibration in tube banks

Mechanisms

Methods and data for the design and analysis of cams, gears, linkages and Geneva mechanisms, including contact stress estimation:

Selecting cam and follower type
Selecting cam laws, both trigonometrical and polynomial
Kinematic analysis
Estimating basic dimensions and blending of cam profiles
Cam methods: Selection of materials, manufacturing methods and lubricants
Methods for designing parallel axis straight spur and helical gears
Method for calculating contact and root bending stress limitations, compatible with BS 436: Part 3
Kinematic design of epicyclic gear trains
Linkage data and force analysis of linkages
Balancing procedures for planar linkages
Designing internal and external Geneva mechanisms
Estimation methods for evaluating contact stress for a general contact with purely normal loading or with combined normal and tangential loading for gross sliding conditions

Aircraft Performance

Data and methods to estimate the performance of a proposed aircraft at every stage of its design, from project stage to operation, with data for three levels of estimation (first approximation, “project” method, and comprehensive calculation). Includes performance measurement information:

Flight-test handling measurements
Analysis using equations of motion
Reduction to standard conditions by incremental adjustment
Non-dimensional group presentations
Correction of air-data measurements and methods of in-flight thrust measurement for turbo-jet and turbo-fan engines
Related Tools
- International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) app
- Wing lift-curve slope app

Physical Data

The most reliable correlated data available (equations and in tabular form) for the physical properties of a wide range of pure compounds and some mixtures used in the chemical industry, including:

Vapor pressure
Liquid density
Liquid heat capacity and enthalpy
Liquid viscosity
Liquid and gas thermal conductivity
Fire hazard properties
Properties of water substance
Thermophysical properties of a number of industrially important compounds, including modern refrigerants

Stress and Strength of Components

Strength analysis of components used in general mechanical engineering for three principal types:

Design of commonly used components: Struts, beams, shafts, plates, pressure vessels, pipes, fastenings, welds and springs, including data on stiffnesses, static stresses/deflections, buckling loads and fatigue strengths
Data for certain stress intensity factors and contact stresses
Data on the fatigue strength of materials, both as constant amplitude stress versus endurance (S-N) curves and in terms of linear elastic fracture mechanics
- Low and high alloy and stainless steels made to US, UK and European specifications
- Fracture mechanics data: Crack propagation rates, many down to threshold, and fracture toughness values
Related Tools
- Inelastic stress-strain curves from ESDU 89052

Aircraft Structures

Comprehensive and continually expanding, rigorously evaluated information for the strength analysis of lightweight structures such as those used in aerospace, including:

Elastic or inelastic stresses, strains, displacements or buckling loads under static loading
Metallic materials properties, principal stresses and strains, and failure criteria for specific components: Beams, struts, panels, stress raisers (stress concentrations) and joints

Transonic Aerodynamics

Information on the flow around aerofoils, wings, bodies and cowls at high subsonic, transonic and (in a few cases) low supersonic speeds, including:

Methods in computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
Methods of calculating the pressure distribution and loading on aerofoils and wings in high subsonic flow
Methods of calculating the drag-rise Mach number and/or the wave drag of aerofoils, wings and bodies
Exchange rates between pertinent aerofoil and wing design parameters at the drag-rise condition, including the prediction of shock-induced separation
CFD-data for the wave drag coefficient for families of low fineness ratio forebodies and for an extensive family of axisymmetric forecowl
Extensive treatment of the application of vortex generators to the control of shock-induced separation, particularly on wings
Related Tools
- International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) app
- Wing lift-curve slope app

Tribology

Methods and data for the design, analysis and selection processes associated with lubricants, lubrication, friction, wear and bearings, including:

Guidance on choosing the type of journal or thrust bearing to meet the requirements of load, speed and associated environmental/operational factors
Step-by-step procedure for the design and material selection of dry rubbing bearings
Selection procedures for the choice of rolling bearings
Calculation methods for the design and analysis of:
- Steadily loaded hydrodynamic journal bearings with axial grooves and circumferential groove including superlaminar operation and low viscosity process fluid lubrication
- Hydrostatic bearing design with capillary restrictor control
- Steadily loaded fixed-inclined-pad and off-set pivot, tilting pad, thrust bearings
Contact phenomena
Methods for the determination of minimum film thickness in elastohydrodynamic concentrated Hertzian contacts
Design of tanks for forced-circulation oil-lubrication systems, grease life estimation in rolling bearings, selection of filter rating and the selection of synthetic oils
Estimation of equilibrium temperatures in self-contained bearing assemblies
Design of crossed-flexure pivots
Selection procedures for the dynamic sealing of fluids dealing with both rotary and reciprocating seals
Properties of common engineering materials
Dynamics of a simple flexible rotor supported in axial groove hydrodynamic journal bearings
Stress and lubrication characteristics of disc cams

Vibration and Acoustic Fatigue

Simple, efficient methods for estimating the response and fatigue life of structures typical of those used in the aerospace industry, including fiber-reinforced composites, when subjected to acoustic loading. Includes data on:

Best relative performance of various designs for a noisy environment
Noise from turbo-jet engines and propeller-driven aircraft
Natural frequencies of plate, box and shell structures
Methods for estimating damping, including radiation damping

Wind Engineering

Reliable methods and data for predicting the loads on, and the response of, buildings and structures to wind. Includes:

Methods and a computer program for estimating design wind speeds and turbulence properties for all types of terrain including topographic effects on wind speed
Comprehensive prediction procedures for estimating force and pressure coefficients for structures such as stacks, masts, towers (including those with polygonal sections), lattice structures, beams, plates, boundary walls, aerials and regular building shapes
Methods and computer programs for predicting dynamic effects associated with the oscillation of a structure induced by wind effects (such as buffeting by turbulence, vortex shedding and galloping) close to one, or more, of the structure's natural vibration frequencies
Guidance on the interaction effects of closely spaced circular cross-section structures
Methods for obtaining the natural vibration characteristics of frame, shear and sway buildings, needed for the prediction of their response to wind or earthquake
Method for estimating the damping of buildings

Learn more about ESDU

Introduction to ESDU

Watch Video

ESDU Aerospace and Defense Solutions

Watch Video

Webcast: UAV and Engineering Design

Watch Video

Other ESDU Products

ESDU Packages

Aerodynamics Design
A collection of the Aerodynamics Series, USAF DATCOM plus related NACA and NASA documents
ESDU Aerodynamics Collection brochure
Aerospace
A collection of methods and data for design use in a wide range of disciplines that comprise the ESDU Aerospace Package
ESDU Aerospace Engineering brochure
Aerostructures
A collection of methods and data for design use in a wide range of disciplines that comprise the ESDU Aerostructures Package
ESDU Aerostructures Engineering brochure
Automotive
A group of independently validated design methods, best practices, data and software tools for solving complex automotive engineering problems and enabling faster and more reliable decision making during vehicle product design
ESDU Automotive Collection brochure
Nuclear Engineering
Validated data, procedures and software, endorsed by professional institutions, for use in the design of nuclear facilities and their maintenance, repair and operation (MRO)
ESDU Nuclear Package
Nuclear Design Methods whitepaper
Process Engineering
Methods and data to evaluate or predict the performance of process plant equipment and process systems
ESDU Process Engineering Technology brochure
Structures Design
A set of design information consisting of validated ESDU methods, data and software, including:
- The ESDU Structures Series
- Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicle Structures by E.F. Bruhn
- MMDH - Metallic Materials Data Handbook
- MMPDS - Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization Handbook
- NACA/NASA references from the ESDU Structures Series
- NACA/NASA references from E.F. Bruhn's text

Aerospace Materials Data

MMDH - Metallic Materials Data Handbook
Data on aerospace structural metallic materials properties to assist engineers with meeting design requirements
MMDH brochure
MMPDS - Metallic Materials Properties
Statistically based design values for commonly used metallic materials and joints and data on other mechanical and physical properties needed to design aerospace structures

Additional Engineering References

Bruhn: Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicle Structure
One of the most useful aerospace industry and university text books ever written, with an emphasis on practical application including input from both material strength and hands-on experience. Originally published in 1965 and revised in 1973, this book was prepared as a source of data and procedure for use in the sizing and design of both airframe and space vehicle structures and is the only book that has been widely used by the aerospace industry to date.
NACA Collection
A collection of all NACA documents available from ESDU
NASA Collection
A collection of all NASA documents available from ESDU
USAF DATCOM
The USAF Stability and Control DATCOM (Data Compendium) was compiled between 1960 and 1978 by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation in conjunction with the engineers at the Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. DATCOM provides a systematic summary of methods for estimating basic stability and control derivatives. The book is intended to be used for preliminary design purposes before the acquisition of test data.

Who uses ESDU	Workflows Supported	Key Industries/Products & Services
Chief Designers Engineering Directors/ Managers Engineers, all types Aerodynamicists Nuclear Scientists Plant/Design Managers Maintenance/Project Managers Plant/Facility/Refinery Operators Directors Librarians Professors Research Directors	Product design and certification Research and development Engineer training Knowledge/expertise capture Product evaluation Product optimization Validation/benchmarking of computational methods	Commercial/ Military Aerospace Aircraft Launch vehicles Satellites Weapon systems Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Airlines Air transport services Process Engineering Petrochemicals Minerals processing advanced Materials Food Pharmaceuticals Biotechnological products Heat exchangers Power plants Nuclear (read about the Nuclear Package) Power generation Decommissioning Environmental Water plants Nuclear submarines Fuel fabrication/reprocessing Oil & Gas Refineries Automotive All OEM vehicles Formula 1/racing cars Lightweight vehicles Construction Wind turbines Towers Structures Buildings Colleges/Universities To focus on big problems in: Aeronautical Engineering Aerospace Engineering Mechanical Engineering Chemical Engineering Petroleum Engineering Structural Engineering

Who uses ESDU

Workflows Supported

Key Industries/Products & Services

Chief Designers

Engineering Directors/ Managers

Engineers, all types

Aerodynamicists

Nuclear Scientists

Plant/Design Managers

Maintenance/Project Managers

Plant/Facility/Refinery Operators

Directors

Librarians

Professors

Research Directors

Product design and certification

Research and development

Engineer training

Knowledge/expertise capture

Product evaluation

Product optimization

Validation/benchmarking of computational methods

Commercial/ Military Aerospace
Aircraft
Launch vehicles
Satellites
Weapon systems
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Airlines
Air transport services

Process Engineering
Petrochemicals
Minerals processing advanced
Materials
Food
Pharmaceuticals
Biotechnological products
Heat exchangers
Power plants

Nuclear (read about the Nuclear Package)
Power generation
Decommissioning
Environmental
Water plants
Nuclear submarines
Fuel fabrication/reprocessing

Oil & Gas
Refineries

Automotive
All OEM vehicles
Formula 1/racing cars
Lightweight vehicles

Construction
Wind turbines
Towers
Structures
Buildings

Colleges/Universities
To focus on big problems in:
Aeronautical Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Structural Engineering

Testimonials

“If the right senior engineer isn’t on the team, the problem goes round several loops of analysis...I just asked the Engineers to refer to the ESDU method to fix a pretension that was between the bolt yield and separation and that minimized the fatigue cycles on the bolt.”

– Chief Engineer, SAFRAN Group

“The value of ESDU is that it helps us move much more quickly to the correct answer. On average, we have reduced the amount of time required to design aerodynamic surfaces by 50% compared to the traditional approach. The answers that we obtain using the ESDU methods also tend to be more accurate because they are based on a combination of theory and experimental data, rather than theory alone.”

– Head of Advanced Aerodynamic Design, Cessna Aircraft

“ESDU provides unique validated data. I spend up to 30% of my time trying to validate some of the data used by our engineers. ESDU saves more than the cost of an engineer.”

– Senior design engineer, Bell Helicopters

Partnerships

Ansys Granta

Hexagon

Association of Aerospace Universities

Jesmond Engineering

Endorsements

ESDU Data Items are reviewed and endorsed by the following organizations:

The world's first and foremost aerospace community

The Royal Aeronautical Society is the world's only professional body dedicated to the entire aerospace community. Established in 1866 to further the art, science and engineering of aeronautics, the Society has been at the forefront of developments in aerospace ever since.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the fastest growing professional engineering institution in the UK. 100,000 members work at the heart of the country's most important and dynamic industries.

The Institution of Chemical Engineers

The Institution of Chemical Engineers is the global professional membership organization for people with relevant experience or an interest in chemical engineering.

Additional ESDU Resources

Resources

ESDU Committee Activities 2016 Brochure

ESDU Academia Brochure

Composites in Aerospace Applications Whitepaper

Design of Lugs Whitepaper

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Goldfire Analytics

AccessEngineering

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Material Compliance and Sustainability

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ESDU: Validated engineering design methods

Ensure optimal product design, performance, safety and compliance.

What’s Included

Dive deeper into the content: ESDU products

Learn more about ESDU

Introduction to ESDU

ESDU Aerospace and Defense Solutions

Webcast: UAV and Engineering Design

Other ESDU Products

Testimonials

Partnerships

Endorsements

The world's first and foremost aerospace community

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The Institution of Chemical Engineers

Additional ESDU Resources

Resources

Related Products