Justin Chang: Week 11 Laser Cutting

Concept: As a veteran of the Air Force, I was always in the presence of various aircraft which is my inspiration for my design. I chose to create an aircraft carrier that would be able to transport a mass amount of ground forces. One of the design requirements that I implemented was that it had to fighter jet maneuverability. To accomplish this placed diffuser’s underneath the wings to provide increased aerodynamics. The slit near the top of the fuselage aids the aircraft when performing evasive maneuvers, increasing its banking capabilities. I believe I accomplished all my set requirements for the ideal aircraft carrier, which was to design a carrier that rides like a Cadillac during cruising speeds but turns like a Ferrari when the situation requires it.

Techniques: The design and fabrication began within the Flatfab software. After configuring the thickness and scaling the design within Flatfab, then it was saved as an SVG file. Adobe Illustrator was then used to create a “pass-through” by properly scaling it and exporting the file as a DXF file. Lastly, I used Rhino and opened the DXF file. Within Rhino, I confirmed the integrity of the design by verifying that the linear dimensions were at 0.05. Then layers were added, slots were extended, and all the components were laid out within the reference layer so that it can be sent out to begin laser cutting.

Materials: Anodized Aluminum Polished Blue was used for the fuselage. Catalina Dream was used for the wings. Sonic Boom was used for the front air diffusers, and Xray Black was used for the smaller rear diffusers. I went with Studio backdrop grey as the backplate because the interior and outdoor backplates made the aircraft look out of its element.