Raytheon -- Design of Boat Hull Segments Using Additive Manufacturing

The purpose of this project was to assess the effectiveness of designing and producing a boat hull in segments, using additive manufacturing. The group accomplished this, by completing an in-depth research into additive manufacturing processes and 3 Dimensional (3D) printing techniques. The design was to be dimensionally stable, and have a process that strives for easy repeatability and reproducibility. Evaluated was the V-Bottom, Round Bottom and Flat Bottom style. Through the use of modeling the different hull styles in SolidWorks it was determined the Flat bottom was more stable and reproducible. The hull was broken into four segments and used finger joints to align and join the segments. The 3D printer used was capable of printing Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETG), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Nylon, Carbon Fiber and Polycarbonate. After printing with all these materials it was determined ASA would be the best fit for additive manufacturing of a boat hull. After the segments were printed and joined together with adhesives a waterproof coating was applied. The assembled hull was subjected to a series of strength tests to determine its effectiveness in this application. The finished product rode smoothly in water, was weather resistant, safe, buoyant, and reliable to manufacture

Waterproofing 3D-Printed Parts

Team Operation: Watertight has been given the task to design a technique for printing or a post process application for treating fused deposition modeled parts to become impermeable to water. The final design report shows the progress made over the past academic year in order to create this process. In the fall, the team brainstormed many possible solutions and was able to narrow them down with the support of our sponsors, accompanied by a lot of research. This research consisted of many literature searches and patent searches to ensure there was not a process already designed for this application. Last semester, four concepts were selected and tested: resin injection, resin vacuum in filtration, XTC-3D, and Gelcoat. Each concept was applied to 3D printed ABS parts and then submerged in water. The change in mass after submersion for varying lengths of time allowed for the evaluation of each process. From the results seen, XTC-3D and resin injection proved to be the most promising out of the four. With this knowledge, the two methods were combined and tested in the Spring semester. They were not only tested by submergence, but pressure and strength tests were done as well. The original goal for the pressure test was to create a vessel to withstand 100 psi. With the methods applied, this goal was surpassed by 200 psi. The strength test was completed to see the effects of each method on the structural integrity of the 3D printed part

Optimized Tip Cooling Using AM Process

This Final Design Review (FDR) reports on the senior design project undertaken by our team of mechanical engineering seniors at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. This project seeks to use the additive manufacturing process to improve the existing design of a Taurus 60 gas turbine injector tip. The current injector tip is owned by Solar Turbines, a designer and manufacturer of gas turbines for electric generation, propulsion, as well as natural resource transportation. The challenge at hand is to design a new injector tip that will be reliable for at least 60,000 hours and provide ease of replacement, whilst employing a cost-effective additive manufacturing process. Our Final Design Review (FDR) report will be divided into seven categories: compiled research findings, our understanding of the challenge, a design strategy outline, concept designs and design direction, current design iterations, manufacturing plan, design verification, and project management strategy. Furthermore, the Final Design Review will document the progress of design validation through a series of computational analyses. Current analytical results show that there is potential for our designs to meet specifications of the 1350 °F threshold and additive manufacturing compliance. Some details have been omitted for sponsor privacy

A Customer Value Assessment Process (CVAP) for Ballistic Missile Defense

A systematic customer value assessment process (CVAP) was developed to give system engineering teams the capability to qualitatively and quantitatively assess customer values. It also provides processes and techniques used to create and identify alternatives, evaluate alternatives in terms of effectiveness, cost, and risk. The ultimate goal is to provide customers (or decision makers) with objective and traceable procurement recommendations. The creation of CVAP was driven by an industry need to provide ballistic missile defense (BMD) customers with a value proposition of contractors’ BMD systems. The information that outputs from CVAP can be used to guide BMD contractors in formulating a value proposition, which is used to steer customers to procure their BMD system(s) instead of competing system(s). The outputs from CVAP also illuminate areas where systems can be improved to stay relevant with customer values by identifying capability gaps. CVAP incorporates proven approaches and techniques appropriate for military applications. However, CVAP is adaptable and may be applied to business, engineering, and even personal every-day decision problems and opportunities. CVAP is based on the systems decision process (SDP) developed by Gregory S. Parnell and other systems engineering faculty at the Unites States Military Academy (USMA). SDP combines Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) decision analysis philosophy with Multi-Objective Decision Analysis (MODA) quantitative analysis of alternatives. CVAP improves SDP’s qualitative value model by implementing Quality Function Deployment (QFD), solution design implements creative problem solving techniques, and the qualitative value model by adding cost analysis and risk assessment processes practiced by the U.S DoD and industry. CVAP and SDP fundamentally differ from other decision making approaches, like the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), by distinctly separating the value/utility function assessment process with the ranking of alternatives. This explicit value assessment allows for straightforward traceability of the specific factors that influence decisions, which illuminates the tradeoffs involved in making decisions with multiple objectives. CVAP is intended to be a decision support tool with the ultimate purpose of helping decision makers attain the best solution and understanding the differences between the alternatives. CVAP does not include any processes for implementation of the alternative that the customer selects. CVAP is applied to ballistic missile defense (BMD) to give contractors ideas on how to use it. An introduction of BMD, unique BMD challenges, and how CVAP can improve the BMD decision making process is presented. Each phase of CVAP is applied to the BMD decision environment. CVAP is applied to a fictitious BMD example

Working on the Boundaries: Philosophies and Practices of the Design Process

While systems engineering process is a program formal management technique and contractually binding, the design process is the informal practice of achieving the design project requirements throughout all design phases of the systems engineering process. The design process and organization are systems and component dependent. Informal reviews include technical information meetings and concurrent engineering sessions, and formal technical discipline reviews are conducted through the systems engineering process. This paper discusses and references major philosophical principles in the design process, identifies its role in interacting systems and disciplines analyses and integrations, and illustrates the process application in experienced aerostructural designs

Maintaining systems-of-systems fit-for-purpose: a technique exploiting material, energy and information source, sink and bearer analysis

Across many domains, systems suppliers are challenged by the complexity of their systems and the speed at which their systems must be changed in order to meet the needs of customers or the societies which the systems support. Stakeholder needs are ever more complex: appearing, disappearing, changing and interacting faster than solutions able to address them can be instantiated. Similarly, the systems themselves continually change as a result of both external and internal influences, such as damage, changing environment, upgrades, reconfiguration, replacement, etc. In the event of situations unforeseen at design time, personnel (for example maintainers or operators) close to the point of employment may have to modify systems in response to the evolving situation, and to do this in a timely manner so that the system and/or System-of-Systems (SoS: a set of systems that have to interoperate) can achieve their aims. This research was motivated by the problem of designing-in re-configurability to the constituent systems of a SoS to enable the SoS and its systems to effectively and efficiently counter the effects of unforeseen events that adversely affect fitness-for purpose whilst operational. This research shows that a SoS does not achieve or maintain fitness-for-purpose because it cannot implement the correct, timely and complete transfer of Material, Energy and Information (MEI) between its constituents and with its external environment that is necessary to achieve a desired outcome; i.e. the purpose

Quality management approach of product data models for shipbuilding

A quality management approach to manage the quality of ship product model data is discussed. It aims to improve and to automate product data model control to make the design and production processes more reliable. This approach is supporting an efficient correction of decient structural designs under visual guidance towards the identied problems. Two international standards ISO STEP-59 and ISO/PAS 26183:2006 are utilized in this thesis

Continuous improvement: A bibliography with indexes, 1989-1991

This bibliography contains 198 annotated references to reports and journal articles entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Data base during 1989 to 1991

Advanced Manned Launch System (AMLS) study

To assure national leadership in space operations and exploration in the future, NASA must be able to provide cost effective and operationally efficient space transportation. Several NASA studies and the joint NASA/DoD Space Transportation Architecture Studies (STAS) have shown the need for a multi-vehicle space transportation system with designs driven by enhanced operations and low costs. NASA is currently studying an advanced manned launch system (AMLS) approach to transport crew and cargo to the Space Station Freedom. Several single and multiple stage systems from air-breathing to all-rocket concepts are being examined in a series of studies potential replacements for the Space Shuttle launch system in the 2000-2010 time frame. Rockwell International Corporation, under contract to the NASA Langley Research Center, has analyzed a two-stage all-rocket concept to determine whether this class of vehicles is appropriate for the AMLS function. The results of the pre-phase A study are discussed

Systems Engineering: Availability and Reliability

Current trends in Industry 4.0 are largely related to issues of reliability and availability. As a result of these trends and the complexity of engineering systems, research and development in this area needs to focus on new solutions in the integration of intelligent machines or systems, with an emphasis on changes in production processes aimed at increasing production efficiency or equipment reliability. The emergence of innovative technologies and new business models based on innovation, cooperation networks, and the enhancement of endogenous resources is assumed to be a strong contribution to the development of competitive economies all around the world. Innovation and engineering, focused on sustainability, reliability, and availability of resources, have a key role in this context. The scope of this Special Issue is closely associated to that of the ICIE’2020 conference. This conference and journal’s Special Issue is to present current innovations and engineering achievements of top world scientists and industrial practitioners in the thematic areas related to reliability and risk assessment, innovations in maintenance strategies, production process scheduling, management and maintenance or systems analysis, simulation, design and modelling