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In any new aircraft development program there are many important design decisions that determine profitability potential. The key to making new aircraft profitable is to design features that will command more money than the cost to provide them within the market's ability to absorb them. The business model in this paper shows how to predict or find: 1) the costs to provide various aircraft features; 2) the values that aircraft buyers place on these features; 3) the amount of money that buyers have to commit to them, 4) the open spaces in the market in which to place new designs and 5) the predicted profits from new designs. In this process, this paper extends previous work on the law of value and demand, which states that attributes determine value; value determines price; and that price determines demand. This four-dimensional, non-negative system hosts a business model that describes the features needed to enable aircraft designs to go from concepts to profitable assembly lines.

Currently, two consolidated aftertreatment technologies are available for the reduction of NOx emissions from diesel engines: Urea SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems and LNT (Lean NOx Trap) systems. Urea SCR technology, which has been widely used for many years at stationary sources, is becoming nowadays an attractive alternative also for light-duty diesel applications. However, SCR systems are much more effective in NOx reduction efficiency at high load operating conditions than light load condition, characterized by lower exhaust gas temperatures.

At the end of 2006, two MTorres engineers visited the plant of Airbus UK in Filton receiving a new challenge: Find a more efficient way to manufacture Carbon Fiber Spars for the new A350 program. The range of possibilities were wide: manual infusion methods (RTM, RIM, RFI...), Automatic Taping & hot forming, or the new technology proposed, Fiberplacement or AFP. Two (2) options were considered: hot forming+ATL and AFP (both using prepeg technology.) The usage of a flat lay-up + hot forming technology was used in the only Airbus program that used carbon fiber for the wing manufacturing so far, the A400M. The expected greater complexity of A350 spar created doubts on the feasibility of using the above process, while the AFP technology, consisting of laying up directly on the final shape of the spar, also raised questions of technical feasibility, apart from the economic ?business case?, in case the productivity of the cell was not big enough. A ?Spar team?

A significant step is achieved on the flight control actuation system toward the more electrical aircraft through the Airbus A380, A400M and the A350 development phase ongoing. The A380/A400M/A350 features a mixed flight control actuation power source distribution, associating electrically powered actuators with conventional FlyByWire hydraulic servocontrols. In the scope of the preparation of the future Airbus Aircraft, this paper presents the perspectives of the use of the EMA technologies for the flight control systems in the more electrical aircraft highlighting the main technical challenges need to treat: jamming susceptibility, ?on board? maintenance reduction, Operational reliability increase, power electronics and power management optimization, and regarding the environmental constraints, the predicted performances; the benefits associated to the optimized utilization of on-board power sources.

Using pressure sensitive adhesive tapes to achieve economy and efficiency in automotive assembly

This article characterizes the special features of drilling of CFRP/Titanium and -Aluminium stacks. Simplified theoretic models will show how CFRP/Titanium stacks should be machined without scratches and burn marks contacting carbon. Low axial forces and smart chip removal technology are the main characteristics of the drilling tool technology, optimized to reach H8 quality in one shot operation. Presenter Peter Mueller-Hummel, Cutting Tools Inc.

Alyson Lyon, executive leadership coach, discusses the value of effective and efficient communication. SAE Members can view the full version by logging into the Member Connection. Not a Member? Join us today at sae.org/join.

Alyson Lyon, executive leadership coach, discusses the value of being a mentor and/or a mentee. SAE Members can view the full version by logging into the Member Connection. Not a Member? Join us today at sae.org/join.

With automotive electrification, the electric machines show a tendency to share or even replace the dominant role of internal combustion engines in future vehicles. Besides the design and innovation of different electric machines to meet the needs of powertrain and drivetrain performances, high volume production becomes a challenging topic and an un-avoided requirement. Flexible line and sharing line will help the variation of production rate and volume, while the dedicated unique line contributes to large scale of E-motor production. Supplier chain from raw materials, parts to processes has to be built from ground-zero or low grade to mature stage within quality specification and time limitation. Multi function skills, cross area technologies and complex management etc are all required for E-motor manufacturer to grow up with component and equipment suppliers. Reducing cost, improving quality and guaranteeing safety are always the thematic series.

Since 2006 Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL) and the Pacific Northwest National Labs (PNNL) have conducted research of injection molded long glass fiber thermoplastic parts funded by U.S. DOE. At DOE's request, ACC's Plastics Division Automotive Team and USCAR formed a steering committee for the National Labs, whose purpose was to provide industry perspective, parts materials and guidance in processing. This ACC affiliation enabled the plastics industry to identify additional key research requirements necessary to the success of long glass fiber injection molded materials and their use in the real world. Through further cooperative agreements with Autodesk Moldflow and University of Illinois, a new process model to predict both fiber orientation distribution and fiber length distribution is now available. Mechanical property predictive tools were developed and Moldflow is integrating these models into their software.

Probabilistic methods are used in calculating composite part design factors for, and are intended to conservatively compensate for worst case impact to composite parts used on space and aerospace vehicles. The current method to investigate impact damage of composite parts is visual based upon observation of an indentation. A more reliable and accurate determinant of impact damage is to measure impact energy. RF impact sensors can be used to gather data to establish an impact damage benchmark for deterministic design criteria that will reduce material applied to composite parts to compensate for uncertainties resulting from observed impact damage. Once the benchmark has been established, RF impact sensors will be applied to composite parts throughout their life-cycle to alert and identify the location of impact damage that exceeds the maximum established benchmark for impact.

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.

In a variety of industries there is a growing need to manufacture high quality carbon fibre epoxy matrix composite structures at greater production rates and lower costs than has historically been the case. This has developed into a desire for the automation of the manufacture of components, and in particular the lay-up phase, with Automated Tape Laying (ATL) and Fibre Placement (AFP) the most popular choices. When used for large primary structures there are such potential gains to be had that both techniques have seen rapid implementation into manufacturing environments. But significant concerns remain and these have limited their wider adoption into secondary structure manufacturing, where manual forming of woven broadgoods is dominant. As a result the manufacture of secondary structures is generally explored for costs reduction through drape simulation and lower cost materials.

Formula SAE challenges students to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing car. 120 university teams from around the globe spend 8-12 months designing, building and preparing their vehicles for the competition. Learn why sponsors support Formula SAE and become a sponsor today!

Alyson Lyon, Executive Leadership Coach, discusses how accurately defining goals leads to success. Members can view the full version by logging into the Member Connection here Not a Member? Get a taste of the Member Connection and join at connection.sae.org.

High Speed Machining of CFRP Parts Investigation of the influence of new geometries, cutting datas and coolant capabilities on the surface finish of CFRP parts. State of the art: Different CFRP grades and machining conditions make geometry adjustments to the tool necessary. Mechanical failures through machining operations can be avoided in most of the cases. New unidirectional CFRP grades and dry machining processes again lead to machining problems. This study investigates new geometries to avoid heat damage with dry maching and air coolant in case of unidirectional CFRP. With help of a thermo camera and the surface investigation with a scanning electron microscope, heat damage can be analysed and therefore new geometries can be developed and tested. Target is to develop a new multi purpose CFRP geometry to meet the requirements of the future. The reduction of different geometries used leads to major cost savings. Presenter Ingo von Puttkamer, Guhring oHG

The three major challenges in the power electronics in hybrid and electric vehicles are: System cost, power density and reliability. High temperature power device and packaging technologies increases the power density and reliability while reducing system cost. Advanced Silicon devices with synthesized high-temperature packaging technologies can achieve junction temperature as high as 200C (compared to the present limitation of 150C) eliminating the need for a low-temperature radiator and therefore these devices reduces the system cost. The silicon area needed for a power inverter with high junction temperature capability can be reduced by more than 50 - 75% thereby significantly reducing the packaging space and power device and package cost. Smaller packaging space is highly desired since multiple vehicle platforms can share the same design and therefore reducing the cost further due to economies of scale.

Presented by: Dan Ott Web Industries Director, Business Development, Advanced Composites Market With the growth of Fiber Placement technology as a preferred automation technology in aerospace manufacturing and the rapid growth of new production line installations, it is crucial to provide material in a form which meets all necessary specifications and supports the optimum productivity available from this major capital investment made by the producer of the parts. Achieving these goals happnes when the part designer, AFP machine builder, and the slit tape producer design the best process and format which provides smooth, efficient and rapid delivery of the prepreg slit tape to the Fiber Placement laydown head. Tape size (width), slit width tolerance, spool shape and size, density of prepreg on the spool, spool change-over and handling processes all play a factor in productivity, and creating (or inhibiting) the best ROI on a full-scale AFP production line.

: Fiber Placement equipment has historically been very large and very expensive. Therefore, the AFP process has been mostly exclusive to the larger aerospace companies of the world. In order to achieve more widespread use of the AFP process, a wider variety of machine configurations must be offered and cost of the equipment must be decreased. Commercially available, articulated robotic arms have been identified as an attractive, low cost option for AFP machine platforms. However, incorporating AFP material delivery technology with robotic arms has many challenges. These challenges relate to both hardware and software issues. This presentation will address the technical challenges of using robots as a machine platform for the AFP process and review the current status of this composites lamination equipment technology. Presenter Frederic Challois, Coriolis Composites

For internal combustion engines and industrial machinery, it is well recognized that the most cost-effective way of reducing energy consumption and extending service life is through lubricant development. This presentation summarizes our recent R&D achievements on developing a new class of candidate lubricants or oil additives ionic liquids (ILs). Features of ILs making them attractive for lubrication include high thermal stability, low vapor pressure, non-flammability, and intrinsic high polarity. When used as neat lubricants, selected ILs demonstrated lower friction under elastohydrodynamic lubrication and less wear at boundary lubrication benchmarked against fully-formulated engine oils in our bench tests. More encouragingly, a group of non-corrosive, oil-miscible ILs has recently been developed and demonstrated multiple additive functionalities including anti-wear and friction modifier when blended into hydrocarbon base oils.