Multiple Failure Modes Assessment in CFRP Assembly an Approach to Cost Risk Evaluation - Research Paper Example

The history of carbon fiber can be traced to 1880 when Thoma Alva Edison introduced the carbon filament by carbonizing the thread in the absence of air and patented to use a carbon filament in the lamp. However, till the 1950s NASA evolves the technology of carbon fiber to use in the space program. In recent years, the aircraft manufacturer embraced the CFRP technology in an attempt to respond to the demand of producing stronger aircraft that are able to minimize the consumption of fuel (Gehin, 2010).

Manufacturing of CFRP involves combining carbon fiber cloth and resin epoxy matrix under high temperature to produce a strong material. The end product needs to be tough in order to withstand the high fatigue at high altitude and strength to the weight ratio characteristics. As shown below, it is calculated that 50% of carbon fiber used in Boeing 787 aerostructures.Having gained so much popularity in aircraft manufacturing, extensive research has been done and published in various fields of CFRP such as studies in materials, tooling configurations, and processes.

On contrary, in terms of product reliability in producing lean CFRP in aircraft structure assembly is still low, where internal failure or first-time quality yet to achieve due to the high sensitivity of CFRP material which required excessive drilling and manual assembly. It is an opportunity for me to establish a feasible cost-risk study to improve the current state of the problem in the assembly process. 1.2 Research ObjectivesThe thesis writing is focused on evaluating how the application of “RISK MANAGEMENT”, “QUALITY MANAGEMENT” & “FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT”, can be utilized to analyze the failure modes that occur in the assembly process of aircraft structure made of CFRP materials.

The objectives of this thesis writing are:• To examine the literature on CFRP in order to give an understanding of its properties.• To determine the cost of poor quality • To determine the financial impact of quality • To identify the area of improvement in management perspectives• To assimilate the theory of reliability techniques.