Structural Design - NASA

The Space Shuttle a mostly reusable, human-rated launch vehicle,spacecraft, space habitat, laboratory, re-entry vehicle, andaircraft was an unprecedented Structural engineering challenge. The Design had to meet several demands, which resulted in innovativesolutions. The vehicle needed to be highly reliable for environmentsthat could not be simulated on Earth or fully modeled analytically for combined mechanical and thermal loads. It had to accommodatepayloads that were not defined or characterized. It needed to be weightefficient by employing a greater use of advanced composite materials,and it had to rely on fracture mechanics for Design with acceptable life requirements.

The truss structure that supported the three Space Shuttle Main Engines was stiff and capable of reacting to over a million pounds of thrust. The 28 members that made up the thrust structure were machined from diffusion-bonded titanium. Titanium strips were placed in an inert environment and bonded together under heat, pressure, and time. This

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