Assembly Process Optimization in the Aircraft Industry with the ASPR Software Package

Mechanical Engineering and Machine Science


Аuthors

Lupuleac S. V.*, Zaitseva N. I.**, Pogarskaia T. A.***, Zheludev K. I.****, Goldberg A. A.*****

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 29, Polytechnicheskaya str., St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia

*e-mail: lupuleac@mail.ru
**e-mail: Zaitseva.n.i@mail.ru
***e-mail: Pogarskaya.t@gmail.com
****e-mail: kirill.zheludev@yandex.ru
*****e-mail: artemiy.goldberg@mail.ru

Abstract

The assembly process in the aircraft manufacturing requires uncanny accuracy. Quality is critical here, since the assembly caused residual gaps and stresses may lead to defects and even destruction of the structure in service. Thus, mathematical modeling of the aircraft structures assembly process is up-to-date and at the same time complex task, as long as it requires accounting for many factors from various areas of mechanics and applied mathematics. Firstly, the panels being assembled are usually large-sized and rather flexible, so their deformations and contact interactions must be accounted for. The splice line length of the parts may reach several meters. The distance between the fasteners herewith is about several centimeters. The number of fasteners in one junction area can reach several hundred. Secondly, the serial assembly technology should be the same for all samples being assembled, which differ in individual deviations from the nominal value. Thus, accounting for the random deviations and their statistical properties is necessary, i.e. theory of tolerances and seating fits is applied. Thirdly, it is necessary account for the fasteners rigidity, since the effect of their weakening during the assembly process should be necessarily eliminated. Besides, a thin layer of liquid sealant or glue is being applied between the parts to be assembled, which, spreading and hardening during the assembly process, affects the stress-strain state of the entire structure. As of today, there is no standard commercial software product able to account for all of the above said effects in the full-scale problems of the aircraft structures assembling.
This article summarizes the results of the long-term cooperation between St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and Airbus in developing innovative methods for the assembly processes modeling of aircraft structures. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the creation of a unique mathematical apparatus that allows for a significant increase in the accuracy and speed of assembly processes modeling while accounting for all the aforementioned features and effects critical for the aircraft structure assembly processes.
The article presents a prototype of the specialized software package that combines methods of the stiffness matrices static condensation, the contact problems solutions by their reduction to the quadratic programming problems and the sealant behavior modeling during the assembly process. Practical significance of the work is being confirmed by numerous examples of the developed methodology and software application in optimizing technological process for the Airbus various components assembling.

Keywords:

assembly process, bolted joint, hybrid (bolted-bonded) joint, contact problem, computer-aided design, assembly optimization

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