Flexible Nacelle Manufacturing Strategy (FLEXCELLE)

The Flexcelle project will create a flexible strategy for nacelle manufacture, allowing different products to be manufactured using the same equipment. This will include a reconfigurable fixture for composite panel machining process and a generic assembly cell. The requirement for shimming of parts will be eliminated by creating matched machined surfaces. Determinate assembly will remove the need to drill and countersink holes on assembly. The resulting assembly process will consist of simply bolting together pre-drilled and machined parts and equipping. A digital manufacturing environment will link cells. The objectives of the project are to increase productivity whilst reducing non-recurring investment.