Predictive shimming for flexible surfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9990446-B2
Application number	US-201414252997-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2014
Priority date	Apr 15, 2014
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A method and apparatus for forming a number of filler members. The apparatus comprises a surface model generator and an analyzer. The surface model generator generates a first surface model of a surface and a second surface model of a flexible surface. The surface and the flexible surface are to be mated to form a mated surface and a mated flexible surface. The analyzer performs a structural analysis using the first surface model and the second surface model to identify a predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface. The predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface is used to form the number of filler members to fill a number of spaces between the mated surface and the mated flexible surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a surface model generator that generates a first surface model of a rigid surface and a second surface model of a flexible surface before the rigid surface and the flexible surface are mated to form a mated rigid surface and a mated flexible surface; and
an analyzer that performs a structural analysis using the first surface model and the second surface model to identify a predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface,
wherein the predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface is used to manufacture a number of filler members to fill a number of spaces between the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface;
wherein the first surface model and the second surface model are generated by scanning;
wherein at least one of a geometry of the flexible surface, dimensions of the flexible surface, a morphology of the flexible surface, and a three-dimensional shape of the flexible surface change after the second surface model is generated.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a surface measurement system that generates first data for the rigid surface and second data for the flexible surface.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the surface model generator generates the first surface model using the first data and the second surface model using the second data.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the surface measurement system includes at least one of a laser system, an optical measurement device, or a photogrammetry system.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the analyzer performs the structural analysis using finite element analysis and a number of factors that includes at least one of a mating process for mating the rigid surface and the flexible surface, a number of forces to be applied to the flexible surface during the mating process, a number of boundary conditions, or gravity.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a filler model generator that subtracts a shape of the mated rigid surface from the predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface to identify three-dimensional shape information for the number of spaces between the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the filler model generator uses the three-dimensional shape information for the number of spaces to generate a number of filler models for the number of filler members.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the number of filler members is a number of shims.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rigid surface is a discontinuous rigid surface of a rib assembly and the flexible surface is of a wing skin.

10. A predictive system comprising:
a surface measurement system that generates first data for a rigid surface and second data for a flexible surface before the rigid surface and the flexible surface are to be mated to become a mated rigid surface and a mated flexible surface;
a surface model generator that generates a first surface model of the rigid surface using the first data and a second surface model of the flexible surface using the second data;
an analyzer that performs a structural analysis using the first surface model and the second surface model to identify a predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface within selected tolerances; and
a filler model generator that subtracts a shape of the mated rigid surface from the predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface to identify three-dimensional shape information for a number of spaces and generates a number of filler models for a number of filler members to be used to fill the number of spaces present between the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface based on the three-dimensional shape information, wherein the number of filler members are manufactured;
wherein the first surface model and the second surface model are generated by scanning;
wherein at least one of a geometry of the flexible surface, dimensions of the flexible surface, a morphology of the flexible surface, and a three-dimensional shape of the flexible surface change after the second surface model is generated.

11. The predictive system of claim 10 , wherein the surface measurement system includes at least one of a laser system, an optical measurement device, or a photogrammetry system.

12. The predictive system of claim 10 , wherein the analyzer performs the structural analysis using finite element analysis and a number of factors that include at least one of a mating process for mating the rigid surface and the flexible surface, a number of forces to be applied to the flexible surface during the mating process, a number of boundary conditions, or gravity.

13. A method for forming a number of filler members, the method comprising:
scanning a rigid surface and a flexible surface;
generating a first surface model of the rigid surface and a second surface model of the flexible surface in which the rigid surface and the flexible surface are to be mated to form a mated rigid surface and a mated flexible surface;
performing a structural analysis using the first surface model and the second surface model to identify a predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface; and
subtracting a shape of the mated rigid surface from the predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface to identify three-dimensional shape information for the number of spaces between the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface;
generating a number of filler models for the number of filler members using the three-dimensional shape information identified; and
manufacturing the number of filler members based on the number of filler models;
manufacturing the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface using the number of filler members to fill a number of spaces between the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface;
wherein the first surface model and the second surface model are generated by scanning;
wherein at least one of a geometry of the flexible surface, dimensions of the flexible surface, a morphology of the flexible surface, and a three-dimensional shape of the flexible surface change after the second surface model is generated.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:
subtracting a shape of the mated rigid surface from the predicted final shape of the mated flexible surface to identify three-dimensional shape information for the number of spaces between the mated rigid surface and the mated flexible surface.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein manufacturing the number of filler members comprises:
forming the number of filler members using the three-dimensional shape information identified.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein forming the number of filler members using the three-dimensional shape information identified comprises:
generating a number of filler models for the number of filler members using the three-dimensional shape information identified; and
manufacturing the number of filler members based on the number of filler models.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising:
generating first data for the rigid surface and second data for the flexible surface using a surface measurement system.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein generating the first data for the rigid surface and the second data for the flexible surface using the surface measurement system comprises:
generating the first data for the rigid surface and the second data for the flexible surface using the surface measurement system, wherein the surface measurement system includes at

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Lagally Christie Dusty
• Blom Adriana Willempje
• Shish Gregory John
• Jones Darrell D

Classifications

• G06F30/23

  using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM] · CPC title

• G06F30/15

  Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design · CPC title

• B29L2031/3085

  Wings · CPC title

• G05B19/4097

  characterised by using design data to control NC machines, e.g. CAD/CAM (G05B19/4093 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B64C3/26

  Construction, shape, or attachment of separate skins, e.g. panels · CPC title