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Effective Reverse Engineering of Qualitative Design Knowledge: A Case Study of

Aerospace Pylon Design

Conference Paper · August 2013

DOI: 10.1115/DETC2013-13006

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 Proceedings of the ASME 2013 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences &
Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
IDETC/CIE 2013
August 4-7, 2013, Portland, OR, USA

DETC2013-13006

EFFECTIVE REVERSE ENGINEERING OF QUALITATIVE DESIGN KNOWLEDGE:

A CASE STUDY OF AEROSPACE PYLON DESIGN

Suo Tan Yong Zeng∗

Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering
Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science
Concordia University Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8 Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8
Canada Canada
Email: suo [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Greg Huet Clément Fortin

Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering
École de Technologie Supérieure École Polytechnique de Montréal
Montreal, Quebec H3C 1K3 Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J4
Canada Canada
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT life cycle analysis, with only public resources at his disposal. The
Global collaboration is now a key for enterprises to rapidly results were then evaluated by experts in aerospace who have
achieve their worldwide successes. During the rapid expansion collectively overseen the project for many years, on how much
of their business, many challenges are emerging, e.g., novice knowledge the student had assimilated. A comparison, between
training, knowledge transferring, intellectual property (IP) pro- the student designer and other novice designers from the project,
tection. This paper presented an effective approach for gaining was given thereafter. The assessment turns out promising and in-
new knowledge in a design project through reverse engineer- spiring in terms of the knowledge assimilation for a novice within
ing by using Environment Based Design (EBD) methodology. such a short time. In other words, the effectiveness of the pre-
The case study used in this paper was designed to demonstrate sented approach has been validated. This is a feasible attempt to
how design knowledge can be assimilated by using the proposed significantly shorten the time and minimize the efforts for novice
approach. A graduate student, without any aerospace design training and knowledge transferring in education and industry,
knowledge and experience, was presented with a sentence ex- especially when a firm is expanding their global business.
tracted from a statement of work of a student capstone project
in the aerospace engineering department of École Polytechnique
de Montréal. Within a month, the graduate student designer was
able to deliver a conceptual design solution including product 1 Introduction
In this fast-paced world, enterprises strive for strategies and
ways to promote their productivity, efficiency and competitive-
∗ Corresponding author:
Dr. Yong Zeng, Tel:+1-514-848-2424#5801, Fax:+1-
ness. With the rapidly changing realm of technologies and ex-
514-848-3171, Email: [email protected].
1 Copyright ⃝
c 2013 by ASME
ponentially increasing amount of information at our disposal, ro- 2 Aircraft Pylons
bust collaboration strategies are vital, especially for enterprises Aircraft pylons are designed in certain aircraft configura-
who expand their business worldwide. During collaboration ac- tions to attach the engines to the fuselage or aircraft wings. In
tivities, many challenges emerge, e.g., novice training, knowl- military aircraft they can also be used to carry weapons or fuel
edge transfer, intellectual property (IP) protection, etc. Internal tanks [14]. For a civil aircraft, a pylon is typically used to mount
or external training sessions are thus designed for those prob- an engine below an aircraft wing or on the aircraft tail section of
lems. How to enhance the effectiveness of such activities attracts the fuselage [15, 16]. Each pylon transmits the forces generated
much attention. There are many books and articles on the study by its associated engine to the structure of the aircraft, and also
of training design, training evaluation, deliverability in multidis- allows for flow of fuel lines, electrical systems, hydraulics pipes,
ciplinary and multilevel [1–5]. However, in this paper, we fo- and air ducts between the engine and the aircraft [17]. A well
cused on effective learning from a different perspective - reverse designed aerodynamic pylon creates the least amount of drag
engineering, with theory-based principles. when an imperfect pylon may causes severe problems. One py-
lon and its engine separated from a 747-200 cargo aircraft right
wing some seven minutes after taking off from Schiphol Airport
In order to demonstrate how a novice can rapidly and sys-
near Amsterdam on October 4, 1992. The consequent investiga-
tematically develop design knowledge in a specified domain us-
tions [18,19] revealed the fatigue and fracture in the pylon caused
ing a reverse engineering process, a student with a Computer En-
the catastrophic accident. Similar accident happened on May 25,
gineering background conducted a case study on the design of an
1979 in Illinois [20].
aerospace pylon, within a short time frame. The topic is already
a very challenging problem for experienced aircraft designers,
thus seemingly impossible for a novice designer lacking the ap-
3 Reverse Engineering
propriate background. Experts are able to render a sophisticated
In engineering, design is not only the actual layout of a de-
design whereas novices tend to provide ill-structured solutions
sired object, but also the analytical processes used to determine
due to their lack of knowledge and experience. Ahmed and Wal-
what should be created and how the object should be modified to
lace [6] found that novice designers were hardly aware of their
better meet the requirements [21]. It is the engineering challenge
knowledge needs. When facing a problem, novices are over-
of devising a system, component, or process to satisfy some spec-
whelmed by the options available [7]. Similar results were shown
ified needs [22]. It emphasizes on creativity, originality, and
in [8–10]. For a novice who wants to get the domain knowledge
efficiency. Reverse engineering on the other hand focuses on
in a very short time, (s)he has to either be equipped with a very
assessment and analyses to reinvent the original parts, comple-
powerful and systematic methodology as guidance to start, or
menting realistic constraints with alternative engineering solu-
work along with experts to get insights from the design process
tion. It is the process of analyzing a subject system to identify
and design methodology. With the adequate resources, design
the system’s components and their interrelationships, and create
and reverse engineering are feasible for a person or a small group
representations of the system in another form or at a higher level
who wants to start a big project. In this study, Environment-
of abstraction [23–25]. Reverse engineering is a top-down rein-
Based Design (EBD) methodology is employed to conduct the
vention process, while machine design is a bottom-up creation
design and reverse engineering of the pylon at a conceptual de-
process [22].
sign level. It was chosen because it presents the advantage and
For centuries, reverse engineering has been a challenge for
the capability of presenting objects and their relationships intu-
people who want to understand a product or a phenomena, which
itively [11–13], which is helpful for a thorough understanding of
finally led to revolution. The reverse engineering of the bird’s
the design concepts in a logical and systematic manner.
glide, eventually brought the Wright Brothers’ landmark aircraft.
The US and USSR put many scientists to reverse engineer the
For the case study presented in this paper, one sentence of German’s V-2 rocket by the end of World War II, to make their
the design objective extracted from a Statement of Work of a stu- own deadly effective weapons [26]. These studies have formed
dent capstone project in the aerospace engineering department of the basis of modern day Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. How-
the École Polytechnique de Montréal was set as the input for the ever, not all reverse engineering projects are successful. Domain
validation of the effectiveness of the EBD theory in the design knowledge and experience cannot be taken as granted, and are
and reverse engineering of the project brief: the design of an air- traditionally gained through learning, practicing, summarizing
craft pylon. No data from the project was accessible for graduate and developing. For a product like an aircraft, the design pro-
student who conducted this case study. The resources were lim- cess is an extremely challenging task due to the complexity, even
ited to books available at university and public libraries as well for a part of it, an aircraft pylon for instance.
as public resources on the Internet. The evaluation of the final The challenge for reverse engineering depends on how to re-
results was given by the experts supervising this project. produce the “same” object with better or equivalent functional-

2 Copyright ⃝
c 2013 by ASME
ity at lower costs [22]. To ensure a successful reverse design, product. The requirements on product structure and performance
great attention to details and accuracy of all measurements is are related to the product environment. In addition, the product
required, in addition to a thorough understanding of the func- environment includes three major environments: natural, built,
tionality of the original parts [22]. Reverse engineering is dif- and human. The EBD includes three main steps: Environment
ficult. For example, three major aircraft engine manufacturers Analysis, Conflict Identification, and Solution Generation. These
renowned worldwide – General Electric (GE), Pratt & Whitney three steps work together progressively and simultaneously to
(PW) and Rolls Royce, and there are so many books giving very generate and refine the design specifications and design solu-
detailed explanations on how to design an aircraft engine. How- tions.
ever many companies and countries tried to produce their own The objective of environment analysis is to find out the key
engines through reverse engineering, but most of them failed to environment components, in which the product works, and the
face the challenge. Reverse engineering of mechanical parts re- relationships between these components. From the environment
quires extraction of sufficient information from a particular part components implied in the design problem, the designer will in-
to replicate it using appropriate manufacturing techniques [27]. troduce extra environment components that are relevant to the
Unfortunately, valuable information is not easy to access, espe- design problem. The results from this exercise constitute an
cially CAD files and material specifications. In some situations, environment system. One of the key methods for environment
given sufficient information, the out-dated technology and tech- analysis is linguistic analysis [34, 35]. And the Recursive Ob-
niques set a bar to prevent the reverse engineering from succeed- ject Model (ROM) was proposed by Zeng [36] to conduct this
ing. As a matter of fact, the complexity of engine design that in- work. While a ROM diagram is generated, some questions are
volves many disciplines and a wealth of design experience, may asked to make every object in the ROM diagram clear. Wang
present failure in one aspect results in failure of the whole reverse and Zeng [37] gave the rules on question asking to conduct a
engineering project. However, the invention of digital technol- comprehensive environment analysis. In order to verify the com-
ogy has fundamentally revolutionized reverse engineering [22] pleteness of the extracted environment components and their re-
and it makes mechanical reverse engineering easier in certain as- lations, a roadmap was proposed as guidance for requirements
pects. 3D scanners like ATOS III, Konica Minolta Range7 [22], modeling [12]. In this roadmap, requirements (structural or per-
are able to provide sharp and high accurate 3D measurement data formance) were categorized by two criteria in terms of differ-
of an object. Techniques like mass spectrometry, atomic emis- ent partitions of product environment. One criterion classifies
sion spectroscopy, electron specimens interaction and emission, the product requirements by partitioning product environment in
X-ray analysis could be used to identify material elements under terms of product lifecycle, and the other one classifies them by
certain alloy designation systems (UNS, British Standards, Ger- partitioning the product environment into eight levels: Natural
man DIN, Chinese GB, etc.) [22], but there is still much to be laws and rules, social laws and regulations, technical limitations,
learnt. Nowadays, reverse engineering is not limited to hardware cost, time and human resources, basic functions, extended func-
anymore, and software rises as another critical aspect [28–31]. tions, exception control, and human-machine interface (see Fig.
The integration of both hardware and software makes reverse 1). The eight levels are in fact decomposed from the natural,
engineering even more difficult. After Apple CEO Steve Jobs built, and human environments for better extraction of the en-
revealed the first iPhone on January 9, 2007, many companies vironment components. Following the pattern of such environ-
tried to produce similar products. However, for a fairly long ment analysis, conflicts are then identified among the relations
time, even though many companies were able to carry out a re- between environment components [11]. At the third stage of
verse engineering of the product and launched seemingly iden- EBD, a set of key environment conflicts are chosen to be resolved
tical smartphones, the operability and user experience were far by generating some design solutions. This process continues un-
from the mark. This was probably due to the number of genuine til no more unacceptable conflicts exist.
breaktroughs demonstrated with hundreds of patent applications
related to the technology behind the iPhone [32].
5 Design and Reverse Engineering of Pylon Design
Process
4 The EBD Methodology 5.1 Case Study Setup
The EBD theory [11, 33] was derived from the axiomatic The personnel in this case study were divided into two
theory of design modeling, which was founded on the recursive groups. On one side, a graduate student from the Concordia
logic of design [34]. The idea behind the EBD is that the de- University conducted design and reverse engineering of a py-
sign problem implied in the development of a product system lon at a conceptual level for 20 hours per week. A professor
is composed of three parts: the environment in which the de- from the Concordia University who is an expert in design theory
signed product is expected to work, the requirements on product provided the EBD methodology to guide the student to conduct
structure, and the requirements on performance of the designed the practice. The professor and the student scheduled a face-to-

3 Copyright ⃝
c 2013 by ASME
 mount
configure

system

to and

interface

install pylon

PWC PW305A
a
engine

CRJ 700 on

aircraft mount rear

FIGURE 1. A roadmap for design requirements classification in terms
of product life cycle and hierarchy. [12].
FIGURE 2. ROM diagram for the objective.

face meeting every Monday, to make sure the EBD methodology

had been correctly carried out. The second group, composed of object PWC PW305A engine is the most constrained and the
researchers and aircraft design specialists from École Polytech- object mount is a part of its constraint, a generic question is
nique de Montréal and École de Technologie Supérieure evalu- asked:
ated the results thereafter. Their experience spans many collab-
orations with different aerospace companies over the years and 1. What is a PWC PW305A engine?
they have been collectively supervising the capstone aircraft py- A PWC PW305A engine is a turbofans engine for mid-
lon design project for several years. As a result of their evalua- class jets. (The load, operation status and included subsys-
tion, the reverse engineered pylon design knowledge was com- tems/features for this engine need to be clarified from a de-
pared to the product design knowledge digested by normal stu- tailed engine specification/manual, namely, the OEM speci-
dents in this project. Not until the evaluation stage were there fications).
communications between the student from the Concordia Uni- After this question, the ROM diagram is updated and simplified
versity and the expert team. with the answer, shown in Fig. 3). As can be seen, the most
constrained object is PWC PW305A engine, and some of its
5.2 Pylon Design and Reverse Engineering constraints are not clear. The object OEM specifications
For the pylon design, the reverse engineering started is chosen to be clarified. However, the documents are not ac-
with one sentence of the Statement of Work of afore- cessible due to intellectual property, thus needs more investiga-
mentioned project: Configure mount system and tion from other sources. Therefore, it is underlined in the ROM
pylon interface to install a PWC PW305A diagram. Following the same procedure, questions can contin-
engine on a Bombardier CRJ 700 aircraft ually be asked with respect to the unclear objects. Some of the
rear mount. questions regarding the objects shown in the ROM diagram are
summarized as follows:
Environment Analysis
2. What is a Bombardier CRJ 700 aircraft?
Generic Questions
A Bombardier CRJ 700 is a Commercial Regional Jet air-
Based on Fig. 2, Environment Analysis can be initialized craft produced by Bombardier.
by asking genetic questions. Rules on how to ask generic ques-
3. What is an aircraft mount?
tions are defined in [37]. As can be seen in Fig. 2, there are
The mount is interface used to connect the engine to the
two most constrained objects i.e. PWC PW305A engine and
fuselage.
mount. An object should be picked up to to start with, accord-
ing to Rule 2 for objects analysis in [37] – “An object with the 4. What is a mount system?
most undefined constraints should be considered first.” Since the It includes a frame structure to holds the engine to the py-

4 Copyright ⃝
c 2013 by ASME
 mount
configure

system

to and

interface

install pylon
mid-class

a
PWC PW305A
jet for
engine
FIGURE 4. The released partial blueprint [39].
turbofans
OEM
specifica"ons on
simple lightweighted aerodynamic

construction
CRJ 700 aircraft mount rear structure with penalty very li!le or no
air system fuel system

Designers /
Design team
mount mechanical Hydraulic
by systems system
config
FIGURE 3. The ROM diagram after the first generic question. system include and

to and digital
interface pylon systems

wire through
following install
lon, and a frame system attaching the pylon with engine to a through

the fuselage. In addition, it includes other systems that pass OEM PWC PW305A
connect
Specification engine
through the pylon and the interfaces that transfer control and = pylon

sensory signals and resources. for on

and
mainly include forward engine
mount

5. What is a pylon? rear mount connect to may and a" engine

mount
The part of an aircraft’s structure which connects an en-
mid-class CRJ 700 jet fuselage
gine to either a wing or a fuselage though the mount sys- inner structures skin

tem [15] (engine-to-fuselage in this case study). The major commercial regional
the

components may include but are not limited to forward en-

gine mounts, aft engine mounts, skin, inner structures (mid-
FIGURE 5. Updated ROM diagram for the objective.
spars) [15, 19].
6. What is pylon interface?
An interface allows internal mechanical systems (fuel, hy- After the generic question phase, domain specific questions
draulics and air systems) or/and electrical systems to pass regarding its life cycle are asked. According to the roadmap men-
through [17, 38]. tioned previously, the life cycle of a pylon can be divided into
nine events as shown in Table 1. Since it is so complex and error
7. How to install?
sensitive for its success, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Connect the pylon to fuselage mount, and wire the necessary
are involved in each step to reduce impacts from human errors.
systems through pylon interfaces (OEM Specification).
8. Who to configure?
Designers/design team. Conflict Identification and Solution Generation

9. How to configure? The most challenging part of the EBD is the Conflict Iden-
Simple and lightweighted construction structure with very tification. In [43], three formats exist in a ROM diagram. Ac-
little or no aerodynamic penalty [14]. cording to the latest ROM diagram (Fig. 6), some of the major
conflicts (not all) are listed in Table 2.
With the generic questions along with the released partial For each conflict, many solutions could be feasible. When
blueprint (see Fig. 4) of the original project, many answers could choosing a solution, multi-criteria decision-making techniques
be derived, and the most updated ROM is shown in Fig. 5. [44, 45] may have to be applied. This is beyond the scope of
the case presented in this paper, and is therefore not emphasized.
Domain Specific Questions According to the rules defined in [37], a conflict resulted from

5 Copyright ⃝
c 2013 by ASME
 TABLE 1. Lifecycle analysis of the pylon design problem.

Event Natural Built Human

Design N/A CATIA V5, Structure of the simulation, dynamics, human er-
Engine, Structure of the rear ror may be involved
(Designer)
fuselage
Manufacture material may present unwanted physical Regulations (FAR, JAR, (Q/A) Quality Assurance, pack-
chemistry process (crack, corrosion, becom- etc.), Budgeted, Manufactur- aging
(Programmer)
ing fragile, etc.) in certain conditions ing SOP, Resources
Transportation Weather varies Transportation SOP (load certificated manager
& unload rules), means of
(Worker)
transportation specialized
vehicle/train/airplane/ship
Assembly material may present unwanted physical Installation SOP, Verification Follow the SOP
chemistry process (crack, corrosion, becom- SOP
(Technician)
ing fragile, etc.) in certain conditions
Test-run Fly in troposphere (weather varies, at- Regulations (FAR, JAR etc.), Follow the rules and regulations,
mospheric corrosion, flying objects (birds, airline policy, flight laws & human error may be involved
(Pilot)
flights, etc.)) and stratosphere (−56 ◦ C ), rules, rotor burst [40] may
high-temperature (950 ◦ C maximum) for the occurs and damage the pylon
engine when operating, huge load when
taking-off and landing, material may present
unwanted physical chemistry process (crack,
corrosion, becoming fragile, etc.) in certain
conditions, material deficiencies
Sales N/A Existing similar products in Marketing strategies
the market
(Salesman)
Use Fly in troposphere (weather varies, atmo- rotor burst [40] may dam- Emergency (fire, pressure
spheric corrosion, flying objects) and strato- age the pylon, DFDR, 20- drop, losing power, etc.),
(User)
sphere (−56 ◦ C), high-temperature (950 ◦ C year lifecycle, flight laws & exception-handling guidance,
maximum) for the engine when operating, rules error-detectable, human error
huge load when taking-off and landing, mate-
rial may present unwanted physical chemistry
process (crack, corrosion, becoming fragile,
etc.) in certain conditions, material deficien-
cies
Maintenance Human factor may result in severe problems Regular inspection and Follow the SOP, assembly & dis-
[22] maintenance [41], Mainte- assembly, replace the damaged
(Technician)
nance SOP module, improper maintenance
procedures may lead to failure
of the pylon’s structure [42], hu-
man error
Disposal Materials may be hazardous Disassembly & classification protection may required
SOP
(Technician)

6 Copyright ⃝
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 Air condi!oner
without losing strength Designers input
Consist of (team) include and

by An!-ice
reducing configure mount
system
system mechanical
and Hydraulic
systems
system Fuel supply
and include and
other forward a" weight to system skin
inner engine engine
mount interface pylon
structure mount
Fire detection &
install digital
pass extinguishing
systems contact
hold system
Coordinate grid
troposphere
pattern by through
include and for directly
Stratosphere operational a PWC PW305A
(-56°C) temperature engine connect
start Engine
starter [Other sensors]
High temperature
around (500-950°C) OEM and
on
Specification
avia!on
to provide
fuel
Install & mount connect to
maintenance
manual flammable
regional aircraft fuselage
Rotor burst
Load for different
situation
the =
CRJ 700
certificate
under

Fluid-dynamics
Airworthiness Regula!on & analysis
titanium
Authorities Rules Wind-tunnel
tes!ng

Analysis &
via FEM/FEA
Affect (may) pylon simulation

Bird collision risck Aerodynamically

include
test analysis analysis
metal/alloy may presents unwanted
physical chemistry process
Determine Electromagnet Mechanical thermal
ic Analysis analysis analysis

Material /size/sh All physical

for includes
ape/joints objects
Stress & faultage vibration
Q/A

FIGURE 6. The updated ROM diagram after the second iteration.

natural environment should be solved first. Thus, conflicts 1–5 Similarly, a conceptual solution with multi-criteria to conflict 2
should be solved first. For the number 1 and 4 conflicts, the tem- includes fluid pipe sealing, fluid-dynamic analysis and a fire de-
perature profile about the high temperature area was not able to tection & extinguishing system, anti-ice system, bird collision
get from the OEM Specification, they were revealed from other test. For conflict 3, low temperature resistance material, anti-
resources such as released US patents: “The temperature pro- ice system, anti-corrosion coating and material, analysis & tests
file from the front fan section of a jet engine through various (electromagnetic test, bird collision test, stress & fatigue test)
compressor sections, the combustion chamber, and the turbine should be included. For conflict 5, we can either demands en-
section might change dramatically from the ambient temperature gine provider to solve it or built a protection device. The SOPs,
rising to as high as 1500 ◦ C and then cooling down to 300 ◦ C, de- error detection & warning systems and automatic flying systems
pending on the engine and aircraft models [22]. For the PW305A are likely to solve conflict 6.
engine, the inter-turbine temperatures limits are 785 ◦ C for max-
imum takeoff and continuous running, but as high as 950 ◦ C for Since the operational temperature has been found, and with
about 2 seconds at starting transient [46].” Thus for any solu- the partially released blueprint available (Fig. 4), an attempt
tion regarding the material of the parts, especially those in con- has been made to infer proper materials for the structural com-
tact directly with the engine (forward engine mount, after en- ponents. For the internal structure of the pylon, it is essen-
gine mount, skin, etc.), have to possess refractory properties. For tial to design a firewall and a bleed air system to regulate the
the skin, its material should be considered under thermal test. high pressure and high temperature air from the engine’s low
pressure and hight pressure ports, so that the air wont create a

7 Copyright ⃝
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TABLE 2. Major conflicts identified from the most updated ROM di- consumption of the engine, the surface shape of the pylon that
agram. smoothly connects the side nacelle and the fuselage, etc. There-
fore, the work focused on the conceptual design activities with
# Conflicts a few further investigations that are seemly easier. This is a
1 skin directly contacts skin directly contacts high demonstration of what kind of information should be further ref-
stratosphere (−56 ◦ C) temperature area around erenced to refine the requirements, even without direct informa-
(max. 950 ◦ C) tion source.

2 inflammable aviation high temperature area

fuel around (max. 950 ◦ C) to engine to fuselage

3 skin directly contacts weather varies, atmosphere

troposphere corrosion, flying objects
4 metal/alloy (perhaps) for material may present un-
all physical objects & wanted physical chemistry
Q/A process (crack, corrosion,
becoming fragile, etc.) in
certain conditions
5 rotor burst material may present un-
wanted physical chemistry
process (crack, corrosion,
becoming fragile, etc.) in
certain conditions FIGURE 7. Conceptual sketches of the of the aircraft pylon and a
forward mont configuration (inspired by [49]).
6 many human works (de- subject to human errors
signer, pilot, technician,
etc. )

5.3 Summary of the Work

Based on the results above, conceptual design sketches of
unconformable environment for passengers and damage other the pylon is shown in Fig. 7. For its shape, we can borrow the
systems. To choose the materials, their mechanical properties idea of airfoil deign without flap from [21] to form the pylon
(stress, shear stress, fracture strength, toughness, forming, etc.), style. Here, drag should be considered primarily to a better aero-
gauge selection, and manufacturing process are to be considered. dynamical performance. The action plan for pylon design was
For the components that are in direct contact to the engine box systematically categories into five levels, namely, project man-
(forward mont, aft mount, firewall, etc.), titanium alloys should agement, detail design, manufacturing, system integration, and
be chosen due to their light weight and temperature resistance, service after launch, in terms of their work contents and required
aiti-corrosion properties. Margetan [47] gave a comprehensive resources. However, due to the page limitation, they are not in-
study on titanium alloys studies under the support of FAA. An- cluded in this paper.
other comprehensive study was given by Donachie [48] on tita- For any system design, quality control and improvements
nium and it alloys. From the information given, TA15 or TA17 are critical. Either from system design perspective or reverse en-
are seem to be the appropriate choice for this case. However, the gineering prospective, it is a constant recursive process through-
geometry parameters are to be determined with further informa- out the product life cycle [50, 51], the spirit of the EBD method-
tion, e.g., the drag, strength, toughness, etc. ology as well. Thus, technical reviews are compulsory within the
The three activates of the EBD, namely, environment analy- process to guarantee the feasibilities and correctness of a design.
sis, conflict identification, and solution generation, are conducted Through the presented analyses and action plan, the pylon design
recursively until no more unacceptable conflicts exit. However, procedure is abstracted in quality assurance and performance sat-
in this practice, it is so difficult for the student to step further isfactory regards. The work flow for the pylon design regarding
into detail design without specifications on hand and advanced its life cycle is derived and simplified in Fig. 8. This process
knowledge in the required domains. The described variables is perhaps a generalized process applied to an aircraft design as
cannot be quantified, e.g., determining the margin of the load well. Some other major activities [18, 20, 38, 52] related to the
to mounts, determining the diameter of a fuel pipe from the detailed pylon design, e.g., system modelling and optimization

8 Copyright ⃝
c 2013 by ASME
 design
modification

processing
Processing procedure
Requirement Product Prototype/Mass Quality Test run/Test
and technical
analysis design production insurance fly
design

technical processing
review revision

Tooling Tooling
After service
design production

technical
review

Product sales

FIGURE 8. The derived pylon design process in terms of its product life cycle.

(structure & systems), metallurgical testing, assembly and ver- 6 Evaluation

ifications, software system (fire, stall, test-run), wind tunnel & In order to evaluate the value of the EBD methodology to
simulator testing, air carrier maintenance procedures, reporting support the reverse engineering approach detailed in this paper,
& surveillance procedures, manufacturer’s production and pro- the aircraft design specialists used fundamental engineering rea-
cedures, airworthiness test & test fly, DFDR (Digital Flight Data soning criteria based on critical thinking concepts and tools [53].
Recorder) readout, are not discussed in this paper. There are This set of criteria is typically used in a methodical approach to
other concerns which are not related to pylon design itself but re- analyse the structure and completeness of engineering artefacts
lated to aircraft design, for example Noise and Emission Control (documents, designs, tools, etc.).
(FAA issued regulations for it) for the environment impact, are The experts therefore compared the results documented in
not put in the contents as well. the reverse engineering case study with their experience and
years of observation of the actual pylon design performed by the
aerospace engineering students. The evaluation is summarized
Thanks to the digital mock-up that the CAD/CAM software in Table 3.
(CATIA, SolidWorks, ANSYS, etc.) provides, not only the 3D
Overall, the case study was very well received and the re-
drawings of components and their assembly could be digital-
sults show many promising avenues for future work. Some of
ized, but also their analysis and optimization could be virtually
the supervisors also suggested that the approach would be use-
tested. The software facilitates the design process since many
ful for instructors when teaching with a project based learning
steps could be conducted simultaneously through collaborations
approach such as the capstone project presented in this paper.
among different groups/departments. The consequences result-
Indeed, an EBD analysis could provide the teaching staff with
ing from design modification to the design in terms of perfor-
some pointers as to which knowledge areas to focus their coach-
mance, cost, process and risk could be predicted before produc-
ing on by looking at the identified conflicts that the new design
tion.
brief infers.

Once a draft pylon design is established, optimization is an-

other task to perform to test and improve the design. As a guide- 7 Discussion
line, there are several major objectives to be achieved in terms of The verdicts from the experts are inspiring. It was unex-
operational research. For objective functions, we have to mini- pected at the beginning of the practice. For such a complex
mize: (1) Drag at the cruising condition, (2) shock strength near project, it was seemly impossible for a novice within a short time
engine-pylon junction, and (3) structural weight of the pylon. frame, especially starting with one sentence only. The student
And they are subject to the constraints including: (1). Load and was initially overwhelmed by the huge amount of information
stationary condition and cruising condition, (2) strength margin, available. When starting with the EBD methodology, the student
(3) inter-spar heights and weight, and (4) thermal margin. was able to identify the critical resource to conduct his practice

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 TABLE 3. Evaluation from an expert.

Elements of thought in Expert Expert comments Examples

engineering reasoning Verdict
(evaluation criteria)

Establishing purpose N/A The purpose is established by the existence of a N/A

statement of work
Understanding the problem Outstanding The conflict identification step of the EBD Critical temperature en-
methodology produced surprisingly accurate re- velopes at different stages
sults. Some of these conflicts are only recognized of a given flight path
by novice designers late in the design process.
Identification of assump- Good Most assumptions were well justified in the case Material failure due to
tions study and their criticality was well established. manufacturing process
Specification of viewpoint Good The various stakeholders are well established and Certification bodies and
their roles are understood in the design process role of standards. Process
understanding
Data, information and evi- Average One of the great challenges and particularities of Aerodynamics and testing
dence aircraft design is the overload of information at data
an engineers disposal. Some data is indeed avail-
able to the general public but IP concerning test-
ing and aerodynamic profiling for example pre-
vents most of the wealth of data to be visible to
non-professionals.
Concepts and theories Good The concepts and theories behind aircraft design Use of computer tools to
are well established and the body of knowledge is perform specific simula-
widely accessible. These were none the less cor- tions
rectly reutilized
Inferences Limited In such complex systems the interpretation of the Rotor burst prevention and
design choices is a very difficult analysis even for partner responsibility
experts. Here some of the interpretations made
showed the lack of knowledge concerning the par-
ticular business aspects governing the statement of
work.
Implications and conse- Outstanding The ROM diagram was a view that could be used Overall ROM diagram
quences by experts to focus on strategic impact analysis of
design choices

step by step. Apart from the results presented in this paper, other 8 Conclusions
work, such as stress distribution analysis and drag computation at
subsonic and transonic speeds of an aircraft pylon, were not com- The EBD methodology was applied to an aircraft pylon de-
pleted within the time frame, and therefore were not presented sign project from a reverse engineering based approach, within
here. Though the final results may seem simple for experienced one month for a graduate student who did not have any knowl-
designer, the attempt and the path that lead to a promising future edge in aerospace. The objective is to evaluate how much knowl-
work can be observed. edge could a novice had assimilated within a short time span.
Experts were then invited to assess the results. According to the

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