Robotic Assembly of Aero - Engine Components

The VITAL (EnVIronmenTALly Friendly Aero Engines) project funded by the European Commission under its Framework 6 Programme aims to provide significant reductions in fuel burn, emissions and noise through the development of innovative design and manufacturing techniques. One way to reduce the amount of fuel burnt, and hence CO2 produced, is to reduce the weight of the engine. A significant proportion of which is due to the large castings used as the main structure of the engine, the replacement of these with fabricated structures consisting of small castings and sheet components could provide significant weight reductions. The use of sheet material has two advantages, it tends to have better structural properties compared to cast and so thinner sections can be used and no extra material is required to support the casting processing. However, the manual fabrication of such structures is slow and costly and is presently not economically viable. One way to reduce the cost is to automate the process. The use of conventional robotic assembly Phil WEBB Chen YE Craig JOHNSON