Paper ID #33774

Industry Driven Design and Manufacturing Course for Aerospace Engineer-ing

Dr. Zhenhua Wu, Virginia State University

Dr. Zhenhua Wu, is currently an Associate Professor in Manufacturing Engineering at Virginia StateUniversity. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. His cur-rent research interests focus on cybermanufacturing, friction stir welding, sustainable manufacturing, andadaptive machining.

Mr. Lorin Scott Sodell, Virginia State University College of Engineering and Technology

Mr. Lorin Sodell is the Director for External and Industry Engagement at Virginia State University’sCollege of Engineering and Technology. He is also Director of Business Development and AdvancedManufacturing Education at the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM). At VSU,Lorin works on behalf of the College of Engineering and Technology to better engage with industrialpartners, finding opportunities to place students both in internships and full-time roles. At CCAM, heis responsible for connecting this manufacturing technology research center with new industrial partnersand championing their work to build career opportunities and education in advanced manufacturing. Hejoined both organizations in February 2019.

Previously, Lorin served for nine years as Manufacturing Executive and Site Director for, Rolls-RoyceNorth America’s advanced manufacturing center in Prince George, Virginia. In this role, Mr. Sodellwas responsible for the design and launch of two manufacturing facilities, which created >$350 mil-lion investment and >400 jobs, including registered apprentice programs for CNC machinists andmaintenance mechanics. He joined Rolls-Royce in 2006 as Director of Manufacturing Engineering inIndianapolis, IN.

In total, Lorin has 36 years of manufacturing and engineering experience in the manufacture of enginesfor the aerospace and automotive industries. He has also held several executive leadership positionsat United Technologies Corporation. Lorin began his career as a Manufacturing Engineer at GeneralMotors where he established Standard Global Processes for Engineering and launched an automotiveengine manufacturing plant in Germany.

Lorin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-tute in Troy, NY and an MBA from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI.

Prof. A.A. Elmustafa, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University andThe Applied Research Center-Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

Dr. Elmustafa is the Mitsubishi Kasei Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical andAerospace Engineering at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA and Director of the NanoMaterials andProperties Testing Laboratory (NMPTL) located inside the Applied Research Center-Thomas JeffersonNational Accelerator Facility. During his tenure at ODU, his efforts have been directed to advance re-search in Nanotechnology and by teaching to inspire students (graduate and undergraduate) to becomeexcited and contribute to that research. His principal interests are as follows: the study of NanoscaleMechanical Behavior of solids; research plastic flow properties and the fundamental atomic scale mech-anisms; evaporation and deposition of thin films for activation analysis; study of computation and exper-imental nanoscale mechanical properties; fracture strength of thin films among others. To his credit aremore than 150 journal publications and referred proceedings.

Dr. Dawit Haile, Virginia State University

c©American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Industry Driven Design and Manufacturing Course for Aerospace

Engineering

Abstract

Virginia State University’s Manufacturing Engineering program is surrounded by organizations

from the aerospace industry and Research and Development sectors including Rolls Royce, NASA

Langley Research Center, and Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM).

With support from NASA and industry, a design and manufacturing course has been created to

introduce students to state-of-the-art principles of “Advanced Manufacturing Engineering for the

Aerospace Industry.” We use modern aircraft and industry practices as examples for students to

illustrate topics of how design, aerodynamics, propulsion, structure, and performance are

influenced by aerospace materials, manufacturing processes, quality systems, and industry

regulations. We aim to prepare future technical specialists and/or business leaders for the

aerospace industry. This paper details the process, challenges, and strategies associated with

implementing this course.

1 Introduction

The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is vital to the U.S. economy. It contributed $909 billion

in total sales revenue and nearly $64 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue in 2020 [1]. A

highly skilled and robust aerospace workforce is essential to U.S. national security and economic

prosperity. In 2020, there were nearly 2.2 million A&D workers, which represents 1.4% of

America’s total workforce. The average A&D worker receives around $102,900 in wages and

benefits, which is 46% higher than the comparable national average for all workers.

Yet today the manufacturing industry faces impending retirements and a shortage of trained

technical graduates, which is a situation that is forecast to worsen within the decade. A 2017 survey

of manufacturing companies conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers, found the

inability to attract and retain a quality workforce is a top business challenge [2]. Further, due to the

security nature, most design work on A&D systems must be done by U.S. citizens. The workforce

gap in the aerospace industry has also increased due to increasing competition from other

industries for STEM talent. The higher education system is not providing the necessary resources

to fulfill current or future demands in both the aerospace and commercial ecosystems. Thus, the

need for U.S.-developed technical talent is particularly acute to ensure a world-class aerospace

workforce ready to lead in a global economy.

The Manufacturing Engineering (MANE) program at Virginia State University (VSU) is

surrounded by organizations from the aerospace industry and Research and Development sectors

including Rolls Royce, NASA Langley Research Center, and Commonwealth Center for

Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM). Many MANE students receive summer internships or full-

time positions from A&D manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and North

Grumman, etc. In the current curriculum, VSU MANE students receive course training related to

their A&D professions in: Manufacturing Processes I/II, CAD/CAM, Manufacturing Automation,

Engineering Economy, Quality Control, Production Planning and Inventory Control, and Project

Management. However, they are lacking direct experience related to the aerospace industry and

manufacturing shop practices.

The VSU College of Engineering and Technology has recently been awarded a NASA MUREP

High Volume Manufacturing Supply Chain Management Cooperative grant. With the support

from NASA and industry, a MANE 499 course, “Design and Manufacturing for Aerospace

Industry,” was created. This course was designed in the well-known framework, “learning factory”

[3]. Through the “learning factory” model, MANE 499 is organized to introduce students to state-

of-the-art principles of A&D design and manufacturing. This approach approximates that students

are working a real world aerospace factory in which tasks are assigned, feedback is given, and

performance is evaluated. Standard project management tools and techniques (Work Breakdown

Structure, Gantt chart, configuration management, documentation control, and lean methods) were

used to manage and monitor tasks, schedules, performance, resources, documentation, and costs.

Collaboration tools were employed to oversee configuration management of documents and to

facilitate intra-group communication and external communication. Major milestones, tasks, and

deliverables follow the structure listed below.

1. Training – The students learn different design and manufacturing topics for the aerospace

industry as shown in Section 2.1. Upon finishing the training, they understand and identify design

challenges and opportunities in the industry.

2. Enabling Collaboration and Tracking Performance– The collaboration environment is built,

requirements are developed, and the performance tracking system is set up for the duration of the

project.

3. Mechanical Design and Analysis Tasks – Blisk (bladed disk) is used as an example to illustrate

the design and manufacturing challenges for aerospace industry. Students are first assigned the

task of mechanical design of blisks using the Siemens NX CAD. The finite element analysis (FEA)

on the mechanical force and strength are created and executed using the NX CAE.

4. Manufacturing Tasks –Manufacturing process and production plan is investigated to prototype

the blisk using the NX CAM.

2 Course Content

2.1 Training topics covered in the course

The training aims to illustrate topics of how design, aerodynamics, propulsion, structure, and

performance of modern aircraft are influenced by aerospace materials, manufacturing processes,

quality systems, and industry regulations. During the course preparation in summer 2020, the first

syllabus was drafted with learning outcome and topics. The syllabus was sent to our External

Advisory Committee (EAC) for their comments on whether or not any topic needed to be

strengthened/omitted. One challenge was to arrange so many topics for a 3-credit hour class in a

15-weeks semester. The schedule assigned for each topic was included. With the EAC’s comments,

the course topics were finally decided as indicated below.

1. Introduction to NASA and the global aerospace industry (1 week)

NASA history and mission

Aerospace manufacturers and their major products (Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, GE

Aviation, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon (including Pratt & Whitney), Safran, Rolls-Royce.)

2. Overview of concept design and performance for aircraft (1 week)

Introduction to aerodynamics

Aircraft structure (wing and flying surface, fuselage, jet engine, secondary power system,

fuel system, avionic system, flight control system, etc.)

Difference in design expectations for civil and military aircraft

Design performance (cruise performance, take off performance, climb performance,

landing performance)

3. Propulsion and jet engines (2 weeks)

Working principles of jet engines

Types of jet engines (turbojets, turboprops, turbofans, turboshafts, ramjets, etc.)

Hybrid electrical jet engines

Geared turbofan engines

4. Materials for the aerospace industry (2 weeks)

Aluminum, Magnesium

Titanium and Nickel based alloys

Organic Matrix and Ceramic Matrix composites

5. Advanced manufacturing processes for the aerospace industry (3 weeks)

Multi-axis machining, precision casting, coating, electro discharge machining, electro

chemical machining, welding, forging, assembly

6. Quality for the aerospace industry (1 week)

AS9100

Product safety (including study of aircraft accidents)

Quality systems and tools (including PPAP and APQP)

7. Cost drivers for the aerospace industry (1 week)

Design and development cost

Acquisition (including manufacturing) cost

Cost of poor quality

Operating cost

Lifecycle (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) cost

Earned value management principles

8. Regulations for aerospace industry (1 week)

FAA regulations

International governing bodies

Export control regulations (EAR / ITAR)

9. Selected lean manufacturing principles in the aerospace industry (3 weeks)

Understanding value streams

Establishing flow in manufacturing processes

PDCA and Kaizan

2.2 Exercises created for this course

To strengthen students’ learning in MANE 499, the following assignment was created in the

semester.

a) Essay on the US aerospace industry supply chain

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred during the course implementation. As a result, global air traffic

has dramatically decreased as the world fights the virus. The aerospace manufacturing industry

was adversely impacted because of the reduction in production and maintenance repair and

overhaul (MRO) business. Some of our students working in the aerospace companies were also

impacted: some summer 2020 internships were canceled, some onsite internships were converted

to online, and some had to look for new full-time positions because factories were being closed.

As a result, students were assigned an essay on “Impact and Resilience on U.S. Aerospace

Manufacturing Supply Chain”. In their papers, students described their personal experiences

working in the aerospace companies such as Rolls-Royce, Aerospace Cooperation, etc. during the

pandemic. Through a literature search, they also discussed recovery plans which could include the

creation of new business models, changes in the supply chain, digitalization of enterprise, and lean

based cost-optimization exercises, etc.

b) Project on “material selection and manufacturing processes” for aircraft engines

As shown in below Figure 1, a turbofan aircraft engine is typically composed of an air intake fan,

compressors, a combustion chamber, turbines, and a nozzle. The typical material candidates in the

turbofan aircraft engine are tabulated in Table 1.

Students were asked to identify a component to study, and then deliver a presentation and a paper

on: 1) component(s) and its function, 2) material candidates, 3) material properties (mechanical,

physical, thermal properties etc.) of materials to be selected, 4) manufacturing processes to

fabricate the component with selected materials, comparison on working principles and typical

steps, 4) MRO considerations for the component, and 5) recycling of the material and parts. Two

sample presentations by students are illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 1. Illustration of a turbojet engine [4]

Table 1. Material candidates in the turbofan aircraft engine

Component Operating

temperature (◦C)

Desired material properties Material candidates

Fan Up to 230 high strength to weight ratio,

corrosion resistance, and

Carbon Fiber Reinforced

Plastic composite (CFRP)

creep resistance, damage

resistance in case of bird

strikes

blades and titanium

leading edge (Ti-64 alloys)

Low-pressure

compressor

Up to 430 high-temperature strength Ti-alloy such as Ti-64

high-pressure

compressor

Up to 730 high creep strength, high

temperature fatigue strength,

Ni- alloy such as Hastelloy

X or Ti-alloys such as Ti-

6242

Combustion

chamber

800 to 1700 heat-resistant alloys, high

creep strength, high

temperature fatigue strength,

and high temperature

corrosion resistance

Co- or Ni- based

superalloys

High-pressure

turbine

730 to 1230 high creep strength, high

temperature fatigue strength,

and high temperature

oxidation and corrosion

resistance

Ni- based alloy, gamma

TiAl

Low-pressure

turbine

up to 730 high creep strength, high

temperature fatigue strength,

and high temperature

oxidation and corrosion

resistance

Ni or Ti-alloy, gamma

TiAl

(a) Combustion chamber [5] (b)Turbine blades [6]

Figure 2. Sample presentation on “Material Selection and Process” for (a) Combustion chamber

and (b)Turbine blades on aircraft engines

c) Mechanical design of blisks

As shown in Figure 1, advanced compressor and turbine designs are critical to attain the high

performance of jet engines. Traditionally turbofan engines and industrial gas turbines use bladed

compressor disks with individual airfoils anchored by nuts and bolts in a slotted central retainer.

Blisks, a design where disk and blades are fabricated into a single piece, improve efficiency,

pressure ratio, and flow rate with fewer parts vs. the traditional design. Most recently designed

turbine aircraft engines have included a number of blisks, and that trend has been steadily

increasing over time. Thus, students were instructed to design blisks using Siemens NX CAD

software. A sample blisk design by the students is shown in Figure 3.

We initially thought to have students implement finite element analysis (FEA) on the blisks

designed by them for mechanical strength, thermodynamics, and fluid dynamics using NX’s CAE

capability; however, a majority of students have no background in FEA or the NX CAE module.

Also, it is difficult to validate the simulation results, so we did not implement the analysis in the

assignment.

Figure 3. A sample blisk designed by students

4) Manufacturing simulation on the previously designed blisks

After designing their blisks. Students were trained on the NX “Manufacturing Tutorials” in the

topics of 5-axis machining, mill-turn, and turbomachinery machining. With the training, they were

assigned to deliver CNC machining simulation on the designed blisks. Students were instructed to

revise their CAD design if they had difficulty on manufacturing simulation of the blisk. The

toolpath generation on the blade milling and disk is shown in Figure 4. Figure 5 is the in-process-

workpiece (IPW) of the blisk manufacturing simulation. In Figure 5, some blades and disk have

been clearly milled out.

(a) Toolpath generation on the blades milling (a) Toolpath generation on the disk milling

Figure 4. Toolpath generation in the manufacturing simulation of blisks

Figure 5. IPW of the blisk

3. Assessment of Learning Outcome

3.1 Direct Assessment

Due to the nature of the remote instruction necessitated by the pandemic, direct assessments of the

students’ projects were not possible. We therefore had to evaluate the students’ learning by their

project submissions and presentations on the aforementioned assignments. From their submissions,

we concluded that students understand some state-of-art topics in design and manufacturing for

the aerospace industry.

3.2 Indirect Assessment and students’ comments

In the Fall 2020, six (6) students took the course. Upon finishing the class, five (5) students did

the indirect assessment on the learning outcomes. The indirect assessment results are summarized

in Table 2. The results show that students agree or strongly agree that the course helps them

understand the identified topics in design and manufacturing for aerospace industry.

Table 2. Summary of indirect assessment of the course

Learning Outcome Strongly

agree

Agree Disagree Strongly

disagree

Understand the key players in the

industry

3 2

Understand basic principles of

aerodynamics, propulsion, and aircraft

performance in aerospace industry

3 2

Understand factors that influence

performance, quality and cost in

aerospace industry

3 2

Understand material selection and

processing for aerospace industry

4 1

Understand advanced manufacturing

processes for aerospace industry

4 1

Understand quality management

systems for aerospace industry

2 3

Understand lean manufacturing for

aerospace industry

3 2

Understand regulatory environment for

aerospace industry

2 2 1

The comments from students are below. We also thought through improvement actions to address

students’ comments.

“I believe the course was well articulated given the circumstances we were under.”

“The course content was well presented during the semester. Taking a site tour at an aerospace

facility would have been a plus.”

Improvement action: Previously we always took students to Roll-Royce when teaching

Manufacturing Processes, but in 2020 we could not arrange a plant tour because of COVID. We

had discussion with our EAC in this regard. They suggested that in the future they can provide

virtual tours to our students.

“Introduction to basics in fluid dynamics applied in aerospace” (should be added as a key topic).

Improvement action: We will invite a guest lecturer in the fluid dynamics topic from NASA or

industry when implementing this course in the future.

3.3 Challenges from COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 global pandemic resulted in the University’s closure and shift to online instruction

in March 2020. The remote learning proposed challenges in the implementation of this course.

Students and faculty were surveyed about the challenges that they faced during the pandemic.

These challenges are summarized in Table 3.

Table 3. Challenges from COVID-19 pandemic

Perspective Specific Challenges

Students’

specific

barriers to

optimal

learning

• Fewer check-ins with faculty and peers; virtual space removes the need.

Email is used more frequently,

• No opportunities to make new friends or interact with new people—without

which exposure to new ideas is lessened.

• In person interaction with diverse faculty and students also helps students

develop “soft skills” needed for industry jobs so not having these

opportunities potentially puts students at a disadvantage.

• No peer-to-peer interactions reduces motivation and students lose important

drivers of hard work derived from watching and working with others.

Faculty’s

concerns

associated

with

remote

learning

• Enrollment in the Manufacturing Engineering program dropped.

• Students may not have had access to the Siemens NX software despite

efforts to provide them with AWS cloud service.

• Students had no access to the labs and equipment.

• Site visits to industry locations were not possible given pandemic

restrictions.

3.4 Student Success

The course was offered in Fall 2020, six (6) students was enrolled in the course. Five (5) of them

graduated, and one (1) is graduating in Fall 2021. Students enrolled in this class have many success

stories such as receiving a fulltime position from the Aerospace Corporation, receiving a

scholarship from Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and receiving an internship position

from CCAM, etc.

4. Conclusion and Future Work

This paper describes the needs for workforce preparation for aerospace industry. Methods for

preparing and implementing a “Design and Manufacturing for Aerospace Industry” were

illustrated. Our efforts to provide students with the competencies desired by aerospace industry

were demonstrated.

Due to the pandemic, we could not arrange any shop activities. VSU recently procured a 5-axis

CNC machine through a grant awarded by DoD, and in the future we will continue enhancing our

laboratorial tools and environment on multi-axis machining for aerospace parts such as blisks and

turbine blades, and then integrate and evaluate these tools in the Manufacturing Engineering

curriculum.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge support from NASA (award number: 80NSSC20M0015).

The blisks machining tasks was also partially supported by DoD (award number: W911NF1910464). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this

material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NASA and DoD.

Reference

1 . 2020 Facts and Figures U.S. Aerospace and Defense https://www.aia-aerospace.org/wp-

content/uploads/2020/09/2020-Facts-and-Figures-U.S.-Aerospace-and-Defense.pdf

2. Assessing and strengthening the manufacturing and defense industrial base and supply chain

resiliency of the United States, Report to President Donald J. Trump by the Interagency Task Force

in Fullfillment of Executive Order 13806, September 2018

3. https://www.lf.psu.edu/, accessed on Feb-28-2021

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_engine#cite_note-12, accessed on Feb-28-2021

5. F. Iskandar, Presentation on ”Material Selection and Manufacturing Processes for Aircraft

Engine-Combustion Component”, Virginia State University, MANE 499, Fall 2020

6. S. Ansah, Presentation on ”Material Selection and Manufacturing Processes for Aircraft Engine-

Turbine Blades”, Virginia State University, MANE 499, Fall 2020