Multidisciplinary analysis of jet engine components : Development of methods and tools for design automatisation in a multidisciplinary context

Abstract: This thesis report presents the work of analysing current challenges in Multidisciplinary Analysis systems. Exemplary the system of an aerospace supplier, GKN Aerospace Sweden AB, is examined and several suggestions for improve- ment are implemented. The Multidisciplinary Analysis system, with company internal name Engineering Workbench, employs a set-based approach in exploring the design-space for jet engine components. A number of design cases with varied geometrical and environmental parameters is generated using Design of Experiment sampling methods. Each design case is then subjected to a set of analyses. Using the analyses results, a surrogate model of the parts behaviour in relation to the input parameters is created. This enables the product developer to get a general view of the model’s behaviour and also to react to changes in product requirements. Design research methodology is applied to further develop the Engineering Workbench into a versatile design support system and expand the functionality to include producibility assessment. In its original state, the execution of a study requires explicit domain knowledge and programming skills in several disciplines. The execution of a study is often halted by minor process errors. Several methods to improve this status are suggested and tested. Among those are the introduction of an interface to improve the usability and expand the range of possible users. Further the integration of a four level system architecture supporting a modular structure. Producibility assessment is enabled by developing an expert system where geometrical and simulation results can be caught, analysed and evaluated to produce producibility metrics. Evaluation of the implemented solutions indicate a step in the right direction. Further development towards Multidisciplinary Optimisation, involving experts in information technologies as well as case- based reasoning techniques is suggested and discussed.