Mechanical Engineering - Report Example

Mechanical Engineering Report Supervisor SUMMARY The recent COOP at the Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries enabled me to attend and acquire training from the Aircraft Support Engineering Department. The section consists of different units like the Power plant (engine) unit, Structure unit, and the System unit. The main task in the department involves supporting the Technicians and the Maintenance Department to finalise tasks especially when special cases arises. Examples of these special cases include occurrence of problems in any of the airplanes that could not identify problems and their solutions based on the manual for their maintenance. Besides, when airplanes require approval or directives based on existing cases in progress, this department is essential in handling such problems. The entire work requires that engineers use the manual provided in the store as well as their knowledge acquired from the university education to solve the problems. Engineers are also required to ensure they perform promptly with keen and caution to ensure such cases are finished and the airplane are serviced. In situations that there are many cases, engineers give instructions to technicians to assist in handling the cases to ensure the airplanes are on service. However, overseeing services done by technicians was crucial to ensure that instructions are followed and completed in time. The experience gained by the interaction with experienced engineers was paramount to the entire training session because it was very relevant to COOP training programs with SAEL Acknowledgement first and foremost, let me give gratitude to the one and only ALLAH for enabling me attends and finishes the training. Secondly, let me give thanks to my parents for their enduring help and prayers for my success both in academics and life. I want to sincerely give credit to the Mechanical Engineering and Mineral Departments for this COOP and King Fahd University for the training experience. They offered the opportunity to enable us apply the knowledge we learned during our university training, thanks again. Without you all, we could not have applied the knowledge in real life environment. My supervisors were not only my mentors but also my strength. I learned a lot from all my supervisors. All my advisors including Dr. Bazoune Dr. Antar Dr. Abdul Aleem, and COOP training coordinators played a significant role in my training for the entire period. Finally, I give credit to Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries Company and my supervisor: Eng. Aldahlawi (Aircraft Support Engineering Manger) Eng. Bawarith (system unit) Eng. Muayed (structure unit) Eng. Waleed (power plant) Eng. Saeed Albalbisi Also, for all the assistance from the technician and the engineers during my COOP duration Chapter 1: Introduction A. HISTORY & BACKGROUND Of S.A.E.I A.1 Saudi Airlines: Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industry (SAEI) started as a technical division of the Saudi Airlines. The Saudi Airlines is currently the (SAUDIA). The Saudi airline began its operations in 1945 under the auspice of the DC-3 (Douglas) airplane. This airline was presented to King Abdul-Aziz as a gift by the U.S president Franklin D. Roosevelt and started with HZ-AAX as its aircraft tail number. The aircraft begun buying additional aircrafts (purchased two additional airplanes). The core of the company begun with increase numbers of aircraft and travel arrangements, slowly the company emerged and became of the biggest airlines in the region. In fact, this airline now has over 140 airplanes ranging from Boeing 747-800 to those with small or narrow bodies. However, the Saudi airline is still expanding, for that reason, it will purchase latest airplane for both domestic and international flight depending on the flight requirements. Figure 1: Saudi Aircraft passengers Fleet Figure 2: Saudi Cargo Fleet A.2. S.A.E.I History: The construction of two bay hangars was as a result of Saudi establishing a technical division in the Jeddah in 1959. The process was carried out in the old international airport. Long-term goal involved training nationals from Saudi on how to maintain and fly the fleet. Besides, the dream to train many professionals became a reality when the technical division began sending high school graduates from Saudi to the united states to learn English language. These graduates also acquired training on avionics and were awarded with certificates. However, the major success came in 1982 when the first international airport named king Abdul-Aziz opened its doors and accommodated the technical services. Privatization of SAUDI was one of the initiatives that led to the restructuring and registration of the technical services as private commercial LLC during the year 2009. The restructuring led to renaming of the facility as Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI). These changes brought the sense of identity and independence. In 2013 Trabut Group acquired 30% of Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries. A.3. S.A.E.I Today: Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries will be using its land at the KAIA to build a state of the art facility. The facility is approximated to expand over one million square meters. The expected house shall house brand new jet engine maintenance, aircraft component shops, modern warehouses, a 150K/Lb, and 12 aircraft hangars. The facility is under construction and expected to begin operation in 2015. Upon completion, the facility will place SAEI at the top rank of MROs in the world. Therefore, SAEI will rank as one of the largest aircraft in the region because it will also have maintenance components, several capabilities for the aircraft and engines. Currently, SEAI is located in the king Abdul-Aziz airport and the division of SAUDI airline in the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia that deals with overhaul (MRO), repair, and maintenance. The facility has over 5000 employees in the technical operations and 45 employees in the maintenance stations across the globe. Services on offer include overhaul services, repair, and aircraft maintenance. For certification purpose, the facility holds Part 145 FAA repairs station certification. B. SAEI Departments: SAEI consists of three main departments as follows: - Power plant maintenance - Components maintenance - Aircraft maintenance Aircraft maintenance: Aircraft maintenance section does all the maintenance and checks for the Saudi aircraft. It is located in three parts; each location has different magnitude of work. The main work is done in Riyadh and Jeddah; the remaining parts are Dammam and Medina. Power plant maintenance: It ensures the engines are maintained and routinely checked to ensure they function properly. Aircraft Support Engineering: Aircraft Support was the department that accommodated us. The section supports other maintenance departments by providing authorisation and solutions to the respective department. N.B// Explanations Upon orientation at the facility, the first two weeks involved preparing security card documents that are needed for the access to the inside airport. Besides, during that period, we took part in safety presentations and understanding of the company history. Engineers began the introduction to essential work during the third week. The engineers emphasized on the need to understand the concepts and how things work. Subsequently, we began with Structure unit that took 15 weeks before proceeding to System and Power planet unit that took 6 weeks. I choose Structure unit because it appealed to me because I was familiar with how to solve issues and arrive at solutions. Besides, the training we attended the basic level course on aircraft familiarization titled training for engineers that took one and half hour during work. Chapter 2: 2.0 Support Engineering & Maintenance Work for the aircraft A. EXPLANATION DEFINITIONS: Aircraft is sub-divided into chapters called Air Transport Association (ATA) that arises from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) A.1. Fleet Manuals: This is a handbook that assists in refereeing to the maintenance practices or aircraft repair -Troubleshooting Manual (TSM) - Fault Isolation Manual (FIM) - Illustrated Parts Catalogue (IPC) - Components Maintenance Manual (CMM) -Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) A.2. ATA or Chapters: Figure 3: ATA (Air Transport Association) from the FAA A.3. Aviation Documents: Some of the commonest documents that bear the instructions for the maintenance include: - Engineering Service Request (ESR) – the document is essential in maintenance especially when help or support is needed, it also assist in answering ESR - Engineering Order (EO) – the document reflects and assists in performing new modifications on the aircraft and other components when the site engineer gets financial approval or the modification approval request - Engineering Authorization (EA) – given to carry-over items especially when the aircraft is not within the AMM to ensure that the aircraft comes back for the maintenance without affecting its safety -Engineering Directive (ED) - gives instruction that helps maintenance personnel to perform specific tasks on a specific aircraft - Engineering Repair (ER) – gives instruction for the support of shops in performing certain jobs related to off-wing components B. AIRCRAFT SUPPORT ENGINEERING WORKS Having spent most of my training in the aircraft support engineering department, I developed interest in their work hence my report will focus on this section of work. The department deals with a variety of issues coming from other departments. Therefore, all other departments depend on this section for smooth operation of their duties. For instance, a department that depends on this section includes: hangers’ technical, line’s technical and mechanical shops. These departments will seek assistance to problems that do not have answers in the manual. In such a scenario the personnel will have to forward the ESR document that has problem description to the aircraft supporting engineers for assistance with the solution to the identified issue. Such problems may arise from the hanger or the line of the airplane, hence the engineers will have to visit the hangar or the line to observe and check the airplane while evaluating the problem for possible solution Figure 4: This picture shows the Flab during our visit to Boeing Hangar Figure 5: Landing Gear of B777 has a problem ESR Figure 6: During Our Going to evaluate a problem in one of the Airplanes B.1. Aircraft Engineering: The Aircraft engineers division is sectioned into two main different segments namely: 1- Aircraft Support Engineering. 2- 2-Reliability Engineers B.2. Aircraft Engineering Units: The above two divisions are further sub-divided into these units: 1- Avionics unit Systems unit. 2- Power planet (engine) unit 3- Structure unit. 4-. Interior unit. Each of the above units has a specific duty; the specialisation is defined by a specific chapter like ATA C. Maintenance and Shops: While under training at SAEI, we had the opportunity of visiting several workshops. Maintenance section deals with several airplanes. Each airplane presented a different kind of problem. These problems may originate from structures outside or inside the plane, and the landing gear. Therefore, the workshop is the final place for all the aircrafts that need fixing of parts or components. It turns out that SEAI has many workshops. Examples of these workshops include sheet metal shop, the Composite, break shop, landing gear shop, and many more. These workshops perform different chores like buying new parts, changing, lubricating, and repairing. These workshop have well trained personnel like technicians working under the supervision of engineers Figure 7: Break Shop (During our visit to shops) Figure 8: one of the aircraft breaks (during our visit to shops) Reference SAEI. (2014). History and Background; retrieved online from www.saei.aero Read More