Repair Decision Based on Sensitivity Analysis for Aero-Engine Assembly

Strict requirements for concentricity of the multistage high pressure rotor of an aero-engine are employed to guarantee performances such as vibration. Tedious and time-wasting trial assembly by adjusting the installation angles of stages is needed to meet the requirements due to the lack of effective analysis methods. Furthermore, there is no quick way to find out where the problem is and how to repair the parts when the installation-angle-adjusting method fails. This article focuses on a solution to optimize the installation angle of each stage and to make repair decisions in the assembly process. The run-out data are processed by least square method to get the spatial positions and attitudes of flanges and a deviation propagation analysis model is built by virtue of homogeneous coordinate transformation theory to predict the accumulative errors of each stage. The eccentricities of stages are evaluated with reference to the common axis and the installation angles of stages are optimized by minimizing the sum of eccentricities. Sensitivities of eccentricity, eccentric angle and parallelism of each stage are analyzed and repair decisions for parts are made to meet more strict requirements. An example of a three-stage subassembly is presented to demonstrate the solution.