Development of bolted flange design tool based on finite element analysis and artificial neural network

Download
2015
Yıldırım, Alper
In bolted flange connections, commonly utilized in aircraft engine designs, structural integrity and minimization of the weight are achieved by the optimum combination of the design parameters utilizing the outcome of many structural analyses. Bolt size, number of bolts, bolt locations, casing thickness, flange thickness, bolt preload, and axial external force are some of the critical design parameters in bolted flange connections. Theoretical analysis and finite element analysis (FEA) are two main approaches to perform the structural analysis of the bolted flange connection. Theoretical approaches require the simplification of the geometry and are generally over safe. In contrast, finite element analysis is more reliable but at the cost of high computational power. In this work, the methodology developed for the iterative analyses of bolted flange utilizes artificial neural network approximation of FEA database formed with more than ten thousands of non-linear analyses involving contact. In the design tool, the structural analysis database is created by combining parametric variables by each other. The number of intervals for each variable in the upper and lower range of the variables has been determined with the parameters correlation study in which the significance of parameters are evaluated. As a follow-up study, the design tool is compared with FEA and the theoretical approach of ESDU.

Suggestions

DEVELOPMENT OF BOLTED FLANGE DESIGN TOOL BASED ON FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK
Yildirim, Alper; Kayran, Altan; Gulasik, Hasan; Çöker, Demirkan; Gürses, Ercan (2015-11-19)
In bolted flange connections, commonly utilized in aircraft engine designs, structural integrity and minimization of the weight are achieved by the optimum combination of the design parameters utilizing the outcome of Many structural analyses. Bolt size, the number of bolts, bolt locations, casing thickness, flange thickness, bolt preload, and axial external force are some of the critical design parameters in bolted flange connections. Theoretical analysis and finite element analysis (FEA) are two main appr...
Development of artificial neural network based design tool for aircraft engine bolted flange connection subject to combined axial and moment load
Sanlı, Tahir Volkan; Kayran, Altan; Department of Aerospace Engineering (2018)
In this thesis, a design tool using artificial neural network (ANN) is developed for the bolted flange connections, which enables the user to analyze typical aircraft engine connections subjected to combined axial and bending moment in a fast yet very accurate way. The neural network trained for the design tool uses the database generated by numerous finite element analyses for different combinations of parametric design variables of the bolted flange connection. The defined parameters are the number of bol...
Development of Structural Neural Network Design Tool for Buckling Behaviour of Skin-Stringer Structures Under Combined Compression and Shear Loading
Okul, Aydın; Gürses, Ercan (2018-11-15)
Stiffened panels are commonly used in aircraft structures in order to resist high compression and shear forces with minimum total weight. Minimization of the weight is obtained by combining the optimum design parameters. The panel length, the stringer spacing, the skin thickness, the stringer section type and the stringer dimensions are some of the critical parameters which affect the global buckling allowable of the stiffened panel. The aim of this study is to develop a design tool and carry out a geometri...
Post-buckling behaviour of metallic skin-stringer assemblies and buckling of composite flat panels
Aydın, Enes; Kayran, Altan; Department of Aerospace Engineering (2018)
Stiffened thin panels are very common and important structural elements in aerospace structures because of the weight and stiffness advantages they provide. The stiffener section is important to determine the support condition that the stiffener provides on the unloaded edges of the panel. In the first phase of the thesis study, the effect of the boundary conditions on the buckling coefficients of stiffened metal flat panels is investigated utilizing finite element and empirical approaches. Empirical approa...
Comparison of experimental study and finite element analysis of bolted flange connections
Yılmaz, Samet Emre; Kayran, Altan; Department of Aerospace Engineering (2015)
Design and analysis of bolted flange connections is challenging because of the nonlinear nature of contact mechanics involved in the analysis of bolted flange connections. Aerospace industry requires faster design with least number of tests because testing is costly and time consuming. Bolted flange connections are subject to variety of load cases that includes thermal, centrifugal and contact loads and it is not practical to consider all of the load cases during tests. As a result, finite element method is...
Citation Formats
A. Yıldırım, “Development of bolted flange design tool based on finite element analysis and artificial neural network,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2015.