Product Lifecycle Engineering (PLE): A Manufacturing Influenced Design Trade Study Application

Product Lifecycle Engineering (PLE) is the application of Systems Design and Analysis (SDA) to the Systems Engineering (SE) activities during the various phases along a system/product lifecycle. SE is an interdisciplinary approach and means for enabling the realization and deployment of successful systems. Systems engineers deal with abstract systems, and rely on other functional engineering disciplines to design, analyze and deliver the tangible products that are the realization of those systems. The SE effort spans the whole system lifecycle. SE focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem from cradle to grave. This paper will address PLE during the critical transition from product development to production where necessary Integrated Design and Manufacturing (IDM) tradeoffs are made. The redesign of the wing of a F-86 Strato Sabre Vintage Jet Fighter, as a case study example for IDM through Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), will be presented. The Georgia Tech Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) approach for rotorcraft preliminary design will be introduced. Design and Manufacturing tradeoffs for the flexbeam of a bearingless rotor will also be presented.