Development of software complex for analysis and optimization of the aircraft assembly process

DOI: 10.34759/trd-2022-124-23

Аuthors

Zaitseva N. I.^*, Pogarskaia T. A.^**

Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, 29, Polytechnicheskaya str., St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia

*e-mail: Zaitseva.n.i@mail.ru
**e-mail: Pogarskaya.t@gmail.com

Abstract

The presented work is devoted to describing the multiprocessor software complex ASRP (Assembly Simulation of Riveting Process), being developed as part of a joint project of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and the AIRBUS SAS. This complex is meant for simulating and optimizing the aircraft assembly process, with account for the fact that aircraft building places rather strict requirements to the parts assembly quality due to high operational loads. The authors propose employing in the complex mathematical modeling and numerical optimization methods, which allow predicting and optimizing the quality of the parts joints prior to implementation of the technologies for the assembly line being developed.

In the aircraft building industry, one and the same assembly technology is being employed while series assembly for all aircraft of the same type being assembled. Accordingly, while modeling the assembly process it is necessary to account for random assembly deviations, such as deviations of parts from the rated shape or errors in positioning. The ASRP suggests accounting for these deviations through modelling the random initial gap between parts.

To optimize assembly processes, it is necessary creation and analysis of various options of the fixing elements positioning is required. A fundamentally new approach has been developed for the ASRP to optimize the temporary fastener patterns, based on the preliminary assessment of the stress-strain state of the assembled structure.

When modeling assembly processes considering assembly variations and the fastener patterns optimizing, the necessity to solving many similar problems with hundreds of different initial data arises. For this reason, the ASRP suggests employing parallel computations for analyzing and optimizing the assembly processes.

This presented article describes the structure of the ASRP software package, the developed methods for the assembly process modeling, methods for the initial gap modeling, as well as methods for optimizing the fastener elements placing. The efficiency of the proposed optimization methods and parallelization algorithms is being studied on a practical example associated with the analysis of the assembling process of the tail section of Airbus A350.

Keywords:

process, optimization, contact problem, theory of reliability

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