GKN Aerospace Engine Systems acts as supplier to the original equipment manufacturers of aircraft engines and is one owe the largest component manufacturer in the aerospace industry. They purchase raw material from suppliers all over the world. The components are big and heavy which means that transport cost could be saved with ship transport. But since GKN Aerospace Engine Systems use Free carrier agreement as incoterm they tie up capital during the transportation. The capital tied up could instead be used in other investments. To overcome the problem with tied up capital during transport the incoterm agreement has been evaluated. The incoterm Delivery at place means that the supplier owns the material and thereby also the capital cost during the transportation. A production stop due to lack of raw material is expensive and to minimize the risk it is important to evaluate all possible risks. The purpose with this thesis is to identify potential risks. The concept with DAP makes it possible for the suppliers to use their own freight carrier, that could lower the prices, but it also increase the inbound transport to GKN Aerospace Engine Systems. The administration cost in the goods receive tends to increase with a DAP solution. It is also necessary to change place where the delivery precision is measured. The supplier also needs some knowledge in export transportation and have competence in transports.

Denna rapport är resultatet av mitt examensarbete som utfördes på uppdrag av GKN. Syftet med arbetet är att utvärdera manualverken som berör RM12-motorn och i en teknisk rapport beskriva hur manualerna upplevs av den tekniska personalen på Sveriges flygflottiljer. Efterlevs de givna instruktionerna som avsett eller krävs det uppdateringar och/eller förtydligande av manualverken? Arbetet är främst inriktat mot de manualer som berör efterbrännkammarmodulen. Arbetet omfattar studier på flygflottiljerna F7 samt F17. Utvärderingens undersökningsarbete utfördes i form av enkätundersökningar, Semistrukturerade intervjuer/samtal samt observationer av det dagliga arbetet. Det är av stor vikt att teknisk personal följer motormanualerna som avsett, att inspektioner utförs enligt föreskrifterna samt att de angivna skadetoleranserna tas på allvar. En förutsättning för detta är att manualerna är lätta att förstå och följa. Konsekvenserna av utebliven eller bristfällig inspektion innebär direkt fara för flygsäkerheten. Resultaten är baserade på information som inhämtades i samband med besöken på flygflottiljerna och visar att GKN bör se över LMI-manualen och i vissa fall förtydliga enstaka instruktioner. Det finns ett behov från användaren att använda sig av verkliga fotografier vid bedömning av tillåtna/otillåtna skador. Det finns en osäkerhet bland den tekniska personalen angående den engelska manualen. Även ”Simplified Technical English” bör vara mer förankrat hos användarna av föreskrifterna. / This report is the result of my graduation project conducted on behalf of GKN. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the manual´s involving RM12 engine and in a technical report describe how the manuals are perceived by the technical staff at the Swedish Air Force squadrons. Are the given instructions in the manuals perceived as intended or does it require updates and / or clarification of the manuals? The project is mainly focused on the manuals relating the afterburner. The work includes studies on F7 and F17. The evaluation survey was conducted in the form of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews / conversations and observations of the daily work. It is of great importance that technical staff follows the engine manuals as intended, that inspections are carried out as prescribed and that the specified damage tolerances which is given is taken seriously. A prerequisite for this is that the manuals are easy to understand and follow. The consequences of inadequate inspection are a direct threat to the flight safety. The result are based on information collected in connection with visits to the Air Force and shows that GKN should review the LMI -manual and in some cases clarify instructions given. There is a need from the customer to use actual photographs in the assessment of permissible / impermissible damage. There is some uncertainty among the technical staff towards the English manuals. Even "Simplified Technical English" should be more anchored with the technical staff that uses the manuals.

The use and knowledge of additive manufacturing technologies are rapidly growing. It is crucial to understand the processing-structure-property relationship, which is highly discussed when trying to understand the science of a material. One commonly used material in aerospace applications is titanium alloy, lately Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo (Ti-6242). This work is addressed towards a laser metal deposition wire (LMD-w) manufactured Ti-6242 built on a Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-64) base plate.  The microstructure of titanium alloys, like all other alloys, are highly dependent on its thermal history. It is crucial to understand the microstructural change in order to optimize the material properties. The prediction of microstructure through simulation can be improved by obtaining experimental input. Since the microstructure of an LMD-w manufactured component is different from the subtractive manufactured, the change from heat treatments are different considering the different start structures. It is therefore of interest to analyse isothermal heat treatments effect on solution heat treated microstructure of LMD-w Ti-6242, from an industrial application point of view. The objective of this work is to analyse the effect of isothermal heat treatment on microstructural changes for LMD-w Ti-6242 wall.  The as received state was solution heat treated according to GKN standard, isothermal treatments were additionally performed and the change was analysed with microstructural characterization. The prior beta grain size, alpha lath thickness, phase fraction and hardness have been measured. Focus has been on the Ti-6242 wall for the measurements of alpha lath thickness and phase fraction. However, an analysis of the interface and heat affected zone (HAZ) has been made as well. MIPAR, an image analysis program was used for alpha lath thickness and phase distribution measurements. It has been concluded that the hardness of the material increases with increasing isothermal temperature during heat treatment and that the lath thickness increases with longer holding time. An equilibrium diagram has been obtained for Ti-6242 from a solution heat treated microstructure of LMD-w between the temperatures of 700°C and 1000°C and a time-temperature-transformation diagram (TTT-diagram), in the range of 700°C-1000°C and a holding time from 30 seconds to 2 hours. / Efterfrågan av samt kunskapen om additiva tillverkningsmetoder ökar kraftigt. Det är därför av stort intresse att förstå relationen mellan process-struktur-egenskaper, vilket ofta diskuteras för att förstå vetenskapen bakom ett material. Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo (Ti-6242) har under den senaste tiden väckt stort ett intresse inom flygindustrin. I detta arbete har fokus lagts på laser metal deposition wire (LMD-w) tillverkat material bestående av en Ti-6242 vägg på en Ti-64 basplatta.  Titanlegeringars mikrostruktur är känslig mot den termiska historiken inom materialet. Det är därför av stort intresse att förstå hur mikrostrukturen ändras för att kunna optimera materialet. Förutberäkning genom simulering av mikrostrukturens förändring kan förbättras med hjälp av experimental indata. Eftersom mikrostrukturen av en LMD-w tillverkad komponent är annorlunda från traditionella tillverkningsmetoder, kommer förändringen av mikrostrukturen från värmebehandlingar vara olika, eftersom ursprungsstrukturen inte är densamma. Därför är det av intresse att analysera isotermiska värmebehandlingars påverkan på en upplösningsbehandlad mikrostruktur tillverkad med LMD-w, från en industriell synpunkt. Målet med detta arbete är att analysera effekten av isotermisk värmebehandling på mikrostrukturen av en LMD-w Ti-6242 vägg.  Startmaterialet bestod av ett upplösningsbehandlat tillstånd enligt GKN standard, isotermiska värmebehandlingar gjordes och förändringen analyserades genom mikrostrukturkarakterisering. Primära beta korn, alfaband, fasfraktion och hårdhet har mätts. Fokus har legat i Ti-6242 väggens mätningar av alfaband och fasfraktion, dock har en analys av den värmebehandlade zonen (HAZ) i basplattan gjorts. MIPAR, ett bildanalysprogram, har använts för att mäta alfaband och fasdistribution.  Det kan konstateras att hårdheten av materialet ökar med ökande isotermisk temperatur under värmebehandling, och att alfabandens tjocklek ökar med längre hålltider. Ett jämnviktsdiagram har framtagits för upplösningsbehandlad Ti-6242 LMD-w mellan temperaturerna 700°C och 1000°C. Ett tid-temperatur-transformations diagram (TTT-diagram) inom intervallet av 700°C-1000°C och från 30 sekunder till 2 timmar.

Continuous technological development and increasing efficiency demands are driving products toward becoming more and more complex. For the aerospace industry - where the requirements for performance, safety and low environmental impact already are substantial - this means that more extensive quality assurance measures must be taken to ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of each individual component.However, to avoid that the work with quality improvement become too extensive and increase the product cost to unbearable levels it is necessary to have methods to prioritize and focus improvement efforts on the product features that matters most for fulfilling customer requirements. Therefore, the concept of Key Characteristics is used today, both in the aerospace and other industries; a term for those characteristics that have a significant impact on requirement compliance and whose outcomes at the same time are expected to vary considerably in manufacturing.The concept itself is similar among those who use it but the purpose of and methodology for identifying and managing Key Characteristics vary, even within the same industry. This thesis is therefore aimed to create a view of which factors that characterize an effective and efficient way for companies in the aerospace industry to work with Key Characteristics. The thesis involves a case study to create a framework for how companies within this industry work with Key Characteristics, a literature review to see which approaches are advocated by previous research and two benchmark studies to see examples of how Key Characteristics are used and handled in practice in industry.The results show that the work of Key Characteristics should meet three main criteria in order to be effective and efficient: • it must be clearly focused on the characteristics that have critical impact on customer requirements and at the same time considerable variation in production, • it should be initiated early in the product development process and then performed iteratively during the process of continuously reducing variation problems in manufacturing, and • it should identify Key Characteristics using both qualitative and quantitative tools to best capture all different kinds of requirements on the product.Finally a practical example is given of how the work with Key Characteristics should look like at GKN Sweden AB, the case study company in the aerospace industry, to effectively minimize the costs associated with production variation, and yet satisfy all customer requirements. / <p>Validerat; 20140811 (global_studentproject_submitter)</p>