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Part Redesign: From Fastened Assembly to Co-Cured Concept
Abstract:
During the course of an aircraft program, cost and weight savings are two major areas demanding constant improvements. An Integrated Product Development Team (IPDT) was set to the task of proposing potential improvements to an aircraft under development. From a list of potential parts, the IPDT selected one which was considered as the most suitable to leverage a co-curing process.
In the aircraft manufacturing industry, any major modification to a part design should follow the program's means of compliance to certification. Furthermore, to demonstrate the new design's safety, sizing methodology and all supplementary testing must fit in the certification strategy.
The IPDT approach was used to ensure the maturity of both process and part. Indeed, a mature turnkey solution can be implemented quickly on the shop floor. This IPDT approach is detailed in another SAE 2013 technical paper entitled: “A Novel Approach for Technology Development: A Success Story” [3].
This paper demonstrates how the part substantiation process was performed by the IPDT putting emphasis on the pre-sizing strategy. The part redesign and associated FEM modifications along with the simplifying hypotheses required to perform a quick pre-sizing will be presented. The co-curing test list complementary to the program's existing building block approach will also be explained. Finally, it will be shown how the leveraging of the co-curing process on an actual production part could be beneficial. Ultimately it should answer the program's needs while laying the groundwork for future improvements.
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