Opportunities of Additive Manufacturing within a galley

Opportunities of Additive Manufacturing within a galley

Franck, M.M.

Van Heur, R.J.H.G. (mentor)
De Smit, A. (mentor)
Eijkelenboom, A. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Applied Ergonomics and Design & Computer Aided Design Engineering

2015-05-29

Additive Manufacturing (AM) can create a lot of unique opportunities within the aerospace industry. But AM is also a relative new production process, that needs knowledge, a new way of thinking and experience to be successful. To help the company Zodiac Aerospace (ZA) start a new journey into AM, this project was conducted. Phase I - Analysis AM can create unique opportunities for the aerospace industry. For example its possibility to create free forms can provide lightweight, optimised designs and reduce assembly time by merging parts. It can also serve the demand from the industry towards customised designs and low batch sizes. But, since AM is in development, it still has some limitations that need to be taken into account. But because AM is growing, the developments can provide inspiration when designing for AM. Phase II: Selecting for AM and designing the AM tool Throughout brainstorms on multiple levels, parts interesting to produce with AM are selected from the galley. The ideas from this selection, together with the information from the analysis, seven categories are made of ‘reasons to use AM in aerospace’. With these categories a selection and advice tool was made for the engineers of ZA. The first part of the AM tool helps the user decide if AM is the right option for their (to be) designed product. The second part provides advice and selected information, based on the input provided by the user. Phase III: Case study To gain insights on the design process of AM and evaluate the AM tool, a case study was conducted on a cooling duct of the galley. The new duct design was optimised for airflow, using CFD simulations. AM can also generate added value in a part. In this case study, an insulation structure around the duct is created and a vibration absorbing structure at its connection to the chiller. Phase IV: evaluation and recommendation Finally, to introduce a new production method into a company takes time, investment and knowledge. In return, AM forms new possibilities for innovative products. It can solve current problems in the detail-orientated world of aerospace. Since AM is evolving towards a stable and mature process, it is a good time for ZA to step into the journey of Additive Manufacturing.

additive manufacturing
aerospace
Galley
Design-for-AM
AM-tool

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:99d78ce6-1f7a-42b7-89b7-49d0ce87a4ff

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2015 Franck, M.M.