Aims and Objectives
If the questions presented in the problem statement are to be answered it is important to state what should be done in the thesis and how it should be achieved. This can be simplified into three sections, each of which will have multiple sub sections:
1. Conduct a literature review - In order to properly discuss and analyse the problems presented, research of the subject needs to be undertaken. This research shall be summarised in the review and will focus on the following areas:
2. Analyse and discuss the content of the literature review - This shall be the main section of the thesis and will use the content found in the literature review to answer the questions proposed in the problem statement. This part of the thesis will be spilt into five sections:
3. Perform experiments - The experiments to be conducted will be based on the findings of the discussion and analysis, the experimentation will help to answer the problems regarding experimental methods. The experimentation is split into four parts:
1. Conduct a literature review - In order to properly discuss and analyse the problems presented, research of the subject needs to be undertaken. This research shall be summarised in the review and will focus on the following areas:
- The problems and history of fire on aircraft - Before the requirements of new extinguishing systems can be determined it is important to understand what problems those systems will face. And if these systems are to be an improvement on old systems it is also important to see what lessons can be learnt from past fires.
- New composite structure aircraft designs - If the problem of composites is to be properly answered then research into the subject is needed before the problem can be investigated and discussed.
- Historical, current, and state of the art fire extinguishing systems for aircraft - Researching what systems are used and being developed shall be key to the thesis. Only once this investigation is done will it be possible to determine if the systems are fit for purpose, and if they aren't then what can be done to improve them.
- Experimental methods used to test fire extinguishing systems - This part of the review is necessary as only once the research for this is done will it be possible to determine if experimental methods used have any faults, and if so how can these methods be improved.
2. Analyse and discuss the content of the literature review - This shall be the main section of the thesis and will use the content found in the literature review to answer the questions proposed in the problem statement. This part of the thesis will be spilt into five sections:
- Determine if halon based extinguishing systems should be banned - This part of the discussion will be used to answer if the EU was right to ban halon, and what will be the long and short term implications of the decision to ban its use. This part of the thesis will be lower priority than other sections as it is highly unlikely that it will have any impact on the decision to ban halon.
- Determine if new composite based structures are fire safe - This will answer the problem of composite structures on aircraft by primarily discussing the findings of the literature review, but also possibly by numerical analysis (if possible though that might be too ambitious) and experimental results. This is necessary as if composites are an increased fire risk they need to be considered in design of new systems and of experimental methods to test new systems.
- Discuss if new extinguishing systems are fit for purpose - This will be one of the main parts of the analysis in determining if non-halon systems currently being designed can be safely used on an aircraft. This part will also tie into other parts of the discussion, as it will help to answer if it is safe to ban halon, and will include if new systems consider composites. It will also suggest what could be done if new systems are not fit for purpose.
- Access experimental methods for testing - This section will critically review experimental methods used in testing new extinguishing systems. The discussion in this will be based firstly on the literature review, but will later consider experimental results. The ultimate objective of this thesis is to plan and test a new experimental method based on the finding of this discussion.
- Discuss next steps needed, and what could not be included in this thesis - This part will suggest what the next steps needed in this subject are, this will be done at the end of the thesis and will consider all parts of the discussion. This part will also mention what could not be included in this subject, such as experiments which could not be performed due to limited resources, or problems which could not be investigated due to time limitations.
3. Perform experiments - The experiments to be conducted will be based on the findings of the discussion and analysis, the experimentation will help to answer the problems regarding experimental methods. The experimentation is split into four parts:
- Plan and conduct test(s) on the experimental method used to see if it has faults - This part of the thesis may not occur due to financial restrictions. But if it is feasible to do then this would be an extension to the discussion on experimental methods, by testing aspects of the current method and getting a better idea of where faults may lie.
- Plan new lab scale methodology to try and improve on any faults found during the literature discussion - This is the ultimate goal of the thesis, and will require a substantial amount of the literature review to be completed before the method can be planned.
- Undertake this new experimental methodology - This is an experiment which will test the experimental method suggested, the only known detail of this test is that it will involve using a water mist suppression system and a fire under a smoke extractor hood.
- Write report on the experiment - After the experiment is completed a full report should be written detailing what was done, what the results were, and what was learned. It is unclear at this stage if this shall be mixed into the discussion part of the thesis, or be written as a section of its own.