Search Results

The aircraft lifecycle involves thousands of transactions and an enormous amount of data being exchanged across the stakeholders in the aircraft ecosystem. This data pertains to various aircraft life cycle stages such as design, manufacturing, certification, operations, maintenance, and disposal of the aircraft. All participants in the aerospace ecosystem want to leverage the data to deliver insight and add value to their customers through existing and new services while protecting their own intellectual property. The exchange of data between stakeholders in the ecosystem is involved and growing exponentially. This necessitates the need for standards on data interoperability to support efficient maintenance, logistics, operations, and design improvements for both commercial and military aircraft ecosystems. A digital thread defines an approach and a system which connects the data flows and represents a holistic view of an asset data across its lifecycle.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have been growing over the past few years and will continue to grow at a faster pace in future. UAS faces many challenges in certification, airspace management, operations, supply chain, and maintenance. Blockchain, defined as a distributed ledger technology for the enterprise that features immutability, traceability, automation, data privacy, and security, can help address some of these challenges. However, blockchain also has certain challenges and is still evolving. Hence it is essential to study on how blockchain can help UAS. G-31 technical committee of SAE International responsible for electronic transactions for aerospace has published AIR 7356 [1] entitled Opportunities, Challenges and Requirements for use of Blockchain in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operating below 400ft above ground level for Commercial Use. This paper is a teaser for AIR 7356 [1] document.

The aircraft asset life cycle processes are rapidly being digitalized. Many novel technologies enabled processes of recording these electronic transactions are being emerged. One such technology for recording electronic transactions securely is Blockchain, defined as distributed ledger technologies which includes enterprise blockchain. Blockchain is not widely used in the aerospace industry due to lack of technical understanding and questions about its benefits. Assessment and establishment of business case for implementing blockchain based solution is needed. The aerospace industry is very conservative when it comes to technology adoption and hence it is difficult to change legacy processes. Additionally, the industry is very fragmented. The technology is advancing at a faster rate and applies across geographies under various regulatory oversight which makes blockchain based solution implementation challenging.

To improve the fatigue properties of additive manufactured (AM) titanium alloy Ti6Al4V, cavitation abrasive surface finishing (CASF) was proposed. With CASF, a high-speed water jet with cavitation, i.e. a cavitating jet, was injected into a water-filled chamber, to which abrasives were added. Abrasives accelerated by the jet created a smooth surface by removing un-melted particles on the surface. Simultaneously, cavitation impacts induced by the jet introduced compressive residual stress and work hardening into the surface, similar to cavitation peening. In this study, to demonstrate the improvement of the fatigue properties of AM Ti6Al4V owing to CASF, Ti6Al4V specimens manufactured through direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and electron beam melting (EBM) were treated using CASF and cavitation peening, and tested using a plane bending fatigue test.

For new aircraft production, initial production typically reveals difficulty in achieving some assembly level tolerances which in turn lead to non-conformances at integration. With initial design, tooling, build plans, automation, and contracts with suppliers and partners being complete, the need arises to resolve these integration issues quickly and with minimum impact to production and cost targets. While root cause corrective action (RCCA) is a very well know process, this paper will examine some of the unique requirements and innovative solutions when addressing variation on large assemblies manufactured at various suppliers. Specifically, this paper will first review a completed airplane project (Project A) to improve fuselage circumferential and seat track joins and continue to the discussion on another application (Project B) on another aircraft type but having similar challenges.

The aerospace ecosystem is a complex system of systems comprising of many stakeholders in exchanging technical, design, development, certification, operational, and maintenance data across the different lifecycle stages of an aircraft from concept, engineering, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance to its disposal. Many standards have been developed to standardize and improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of the data transfer processes in the aerospace ecosystem. There are still challenges in data transfer due to the lack of standards in certain areas and lack of awareness and implementation of some standards. G-31 standards committee of SAE International has conducted a study on the available digital data standards in aircraft asset life cycle to understand the current and future landscapes of the needed digital data standards and identify gaps. This technical paper presents the study conducted by the G-31 technical committee.

Fabrication and assembly of the majority of control surfaces for Boeing’s 777X airplane is completed at the Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS) site in St. Louis, Missouri. The former 777 airplane has been revamped to compete with affordability goals and contentious markets requiring cost-effective production technologies with high maturity and reliability. With tens of thousands of fasteners per shipset, the tasks of drilling, countersinking, hole inspection, and temporary fastener installation are automated. Additionally and wherever possible, blueprint fasteners are automatically installed. Initial production is supported by four (4) Electroimpact robotic systems embedded into a pulse-line production system requiring strategic processing and safeguarding solutions to manage several key layout, build and product flow constraints.

A new high speed forming process for fatigue rated index head rivets used in wing panel assembly using ball-screw based servo squeeze actuation has been developed. The new process is achieved using a combination of force and position control and is capable of forming to 40,000 lbs at rates of up to 200,000 lbs/second whilst holding the part location to within +/− 10 thousandths of an inch. Multi-axis riveting machines often have positioning axes that are also used for fastener upset. It is often the case that while a CNC is used for positioning control, another secondary controller is used to perform the fastener upset. In the new process, it has been possible to combine the control of the upset process with the machine CNC, thus eliminating any separate controllers. The fastener upset force profile is controlled throughout the forming of the rivet by using a closed loop force control system that has a load cell mounted directly behind the stringer side forming tool.

The System Architecture Virtual Integration (SAVI) program is a collaboration of industry, government, and academic organizations within the Aerospace Vehicle System Institute (AVSI) with the goal of structuring a new integration process that relies on a “single-truth” architectural framework. The SAVI approach of “Integrate, then Build” provides a modern distributed development environment which arrests the propagation of requirements errors through the development life cycle. It does so by capturing design assumptions and shared properties of the system design in an authoritative, annotated architectural model. This reference model provides a common, analyzable framework for confirming that system requirements remain complete, consistent, and correct at all levels of system decomposition. Core concepts of SAVI include extensive use of model-based system engineering tools and use of a “single-truth” reference architectural model.

Boeing has contracts for military application of twin engine airplanes generically identified in this paper as the MX airplane. Unlike previous derivatives, the MX airplanes are produced with a streamlined manufacturing process to improve cost and schedule performance. The final assembly of each MX airplane includes a series of integration tests, called factory functional tests (FFTs), which are modified from those of typical commercial versions and verify correctness of equipment installation and basic functionalities. Two airplanes have been through the production line resulting in a number of FFT lessons learned. Addressed are the power distribution lessons learned: 1) the expanded coverage of the basic automated power-on generation system test, 2) the need for a manual wire continuity test, 3) salient features of the power distribution tests, and 4) keys to make first pass power distribution test smooth and successful.

One essential feature of the 787 production system is the 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF), also known as the Dreamlifter,[1] and its ability to quickly and efficiently transport large components from global manufacturing locations to the final assembly site in Everett, Washington. This unique airplane has a tail section (Swing Tail) that opens to allow cargo loading. Quickly loading and unloading cargo is largely dependent on the reliable operation of the integral swing tail door alignment and latching systems. The swing tail door is approximately 23 feet horizontally by 29 feet vertically in size. The alignment and latching systems are required to function in a wide range of environmental conditions including temperature extremes and high winds. At the same time, these systems must ensure that flight loads are safely transmitted from the tail to the airplane fuselage without inducing undue fuselage preloads and without excessive play in the latching system.

There is an increasing demand in the aerospace industry for automated machinery that is portable, flexible and light. This paper will focus on a joint project between BROETJE-Automation and Boeing called the Universal Splice Machine (USM). The USM is a portable, flexible and lightweight automated drilling and fastening machine for longitudinal splices. The USM is the first machine of its kind that has the ability not only to drill holes without the need to deburr, (burrless drilling) but also to insert fasteners. The Multi Function End Effector (MFEE) runs on a rail system that is mounted directly on the fuselage using a vacuum cup system. Clamp up is achieved through the use of an advanced electromagnet. A control cart follows along next to the fuselage and includes an Automated Fastener Feeding System. This paper will show how this new advancement has the capabilities to fill gaps in aircraft production that automation has never reached before.

Increased emphasis on standardizing processes and controlling variability in production operations includes validating perishable tools used in daily operations. Even though dealing with reputable manufacturers, many factors including communication, custom specifications and personnel turnover can lead to the perpetuation of mistakes if errors are not discovered and corrective action implemented. However, inspection is costly and inspection costs far outweigh many item costs unless considering product defects. A beneficial balance may be obtained by employing statistical sampling techniques similar to ISO 2859 [1] to verify the quality of incoming tools.

Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) is a very powerful tool in its ability to guide noise control package design in automobile, airplane and architectural systems. However transmission loss modeling in an SEA frame work has more to do with modeling of sound propagation through foam and fiber noise control materials than classical SEA power flow between groups of resonant modes. The transmission loss problem is reviewed in an SEA frame work with a focus on key paths and input parameter variations on predicted noise control package performance.

Orbital hole drilling technology has shown a great deal of promise for cost savings on applications in the aerospace industry where burr free, high quality holes are a necessity. This presentation will show some of the basic research on orbital drilling development Boeing is doing with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Center at Sheffield University and the deployment of the technology into production programs within The Boeing Company.

This paper presents the results of development efforts relating to an advanced material processing technique, namely cryogenic milling, and its application to the processing of Al-7.5wt%Mg-0.2wt%N-20vol%SiC and Al 8wt%Ti-2wt%Ni nano-composite materials suitable for use in aerospace fastener applications. The effects of cryogenic milling in the material production are investigated via microstructural analysis. The advantages of cryogenic milling in the material production are presented with powder morphology and handling characteristics, and microstructural and nanostructural aspects. The resulting, very homogeneous material is discussed along with resulting mechanical properties, which are obtained through tension tests.

Since flight requirements often necessitate last-minute re-analysis, it became crucial to develop flexible and comprehensive transport phenomena analysis software that would quickly ensure all vehicle and payload requirements would be satisfied. The software would replace various mainframe-based software, such as the Thermal Radiation Analyzer System (TRASYS) and the Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer (SINDA). The software would need to have the flexibility to employ models that could be developed and modified as vehicle systems change. By use of event files which contain simple, intuitive commands, the characteristics of individual missions could be built as inputs to the model. By moving the Environmental Control & Life Support (ECLS) system model to the PC environment, each analyst would have execution, storage, and processing management control. And of course, software portability would be greatly increased.

Electromagnetic forming (EMF) technology has been used lately for the joining and assembly of axisymmetric parts in the aerospace and automotive industries. A few case studies of compressive-type joining processes applied on both aluminum and titanium or stainless tubes for aerospace applications are presented. In the first case study, tests were conducted using 2024-T3 drawn tubes joined with a steel end fitting to form a torque tube using different forming variables including: the fitting geometry, material formability and forming power (KJ). The power setting and the fitting geometry were optimized to improve the fatigue life, torque off, and the axial load capability of the torque tube joints to drive the leading and trailing edge high-lift devices.

This paper addresses a simulation modeling case study of a batching process. The batching process exists in a multi-server, multi-queue aircraft component manufacturing system where all parts and batches are serial numbered for traceability. Every lot of parts requires a unique set of serial numbers and the sequence of batches is required to follow the airplane master production schedule. The study goal was to identify and provide solutions to shorten arrival time differences among parts going to the same batch in a system of more than 100 shared processes. Queue lengths, resource utilization, bottlenecks, and various scenario comparisons were yielded from simulation modeling exercises.

The Portable Fastener Delivery System or PFDS, has been developed at the Boeing St. Louis facility to streamline the manual fastener installation process. The PFDS delivers various fasteners, on demand, through a delivery tube to an installation tool used by the operator to install the fasteners in an aircraft assembly. This paper describes the PFDS in its current configuration, along with the associated Huck® International (now Alcoa Fastening Systems) installation tooling, as it is being implemented on the F/A-18E/F Nosebarrel Skinning application. As a “portable” system, the PFDS cart can be rolled to any location on the shop floor it might be needed. The system uses a removable storage cassette to cache many sizes and types of fasteners in the moderate quantities that might be required for a particular assembly task. The operator begins the installation sequence by calling for the particular fastener grip length needed using a wireless control pendant.