The aerospace industry is one of the biggest consumers of advanced materials because of its unique combination of mechanical and physical properties and chemical stability. Highly alloyed stainless steel, titanium alloys and nickel based superalloys are mostly used for aerospace applications. High alloyed stainless steel is used for the shafts of aero engine turbines, titanium alloys for compre...

The aerospace industry is characterized by intensive collaborations among firms that work for the realization of complex aerospace products that require high risks and costs. Collaboration and risk sharing are needed at each supply chain level. For companies working in networks, in this period of market changes and crisis, it is needed to think and re-think about a networked business model high...

For many years, NASA Langley Research Center has cooperated with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in research about software engineering methods for aerospace applications. Recent research has focused on software aspects of the FAA’s certification process. In this paper, the results of the Streamlining Software Aspects of Certification (SSAC) program are examined to provide insight int...

Superplastic sheet thermoforming has been identified as a standard processing route for the production of complex shapes, especially in the aerospace industry. Ti-Al-Mn (OT4-1) alloy is currently being used for aero engine components as well as other aerospace applications by forming through a conventional route which is typically cost, labour and equipment intensive. The Ti-Al-Mn alloy (made a...

One of NASA's four main product lines is developing and transferring to U. S. industry enabling technologies required for next generation aerospace vehicles as part of the Aerospace Technology Enterprise. This paper overviews the Ultra Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) Program, NASA's focused aerospace propulsion technology program. The UEET Program emphasizes technology development in six sel...

With the increased emphasis on both reliability and multifunctionality in the aerospace industry, active materials are fast becoming an enabling technology capturing the attention of an increasing number of engineers and scientists worldwide. This article reviews the class of active materials known as Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs), especially as implemented in aerospace applications. To begin, a g...

The reorganization of the supply chain in the aerospace industry has led to a new situation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). In order to react to the changed requirements, one possible solution is the project-oriented and temporary cooperation of SME by building a Virtual Company. This again presents the employees with new challenges regarding the work requirements. Within the rese...

In the aerospace industry, engineers rely on fast, accurate results from simulation environments to design and develop ever more complex systems in shorter development times. An integrated approach for the development of complex aerospace systems is presented. This commercial off-the-shelf solution provides tooling to simplify the consolidation of collaborative efforts from diverse research, de...

Purpose Lean thinking has revolutionised the approach to manufacturing and there are indications that it can do the same for New Product Introduction [NPI] processes. This paper explores the question “Is the application of Lean principles to NPI sufficient for best/good practice and has this been proven by the work of the UK Lean Aerospace Initiative [UK LAI]?” Focussing on the eight years of r...