Colossal Tooling Design with 3-D Simulation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Babai M ; Dischinger C ; Hunter SL ; Thomas RE
• Description:
  When you need a huge tool to manufacture something huge, simulation and ergonomic analysis are critical to ensure worker safety. Typically, the design of mandrel-type tooling for composite layup (the application of distinct layers of various clothlike materials with a bonding agent, an example being Fiberglas) is straightforward and has little effect on worker ergonomics. However, designing a colossal mandrel-type tooling for manufacturing aerospace fuel tanks that range up to 40 feet in diameter and more than 100 feet in length presents extraordinary ergonomic and physiological challenges. The mandrel tool for fabricating these flight-ready, reusable composite tanks is estimated to weigh 400,000 pounds, and the tool must be disassembled and carefully removed from inside the completed composite tank shell. To assist in the human engineering analysis, engineers and designers used advanced three-dimensional (3-D) or virtual reality (VR) simulation tools. Ergonomics and human factors ramifications for the design of this colossal tooling are critical because worker's health and safety are at stake. In addition, this state-of-the-art analysis methodology can save costly mistakes while the design is still in digital form, eliminate time-consuming and expensive mockups, and provide critical ergonomic analysis and information. The greatest challenge for the workers who must function inside the assembled hollow tooling is the disassembly process. This process must be accomplished by systematically removing tooling segments in order to release the completed composite tank from the outside of the colossal tool. This situation presents a unique set of problems for human factors specialists who utilize high-level 3-D simulation software to generate simulated human workers to carry out anticipated tank disassembly tasks. In this article, we describe the 3-D ergonomic simulation, analysis, and results of this research. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Manufacturing Simulation Methods Tools Worker Safety
• ISSN:
  1064-8046
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Mississippi ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  23-27
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057666
• Citation:
  Ergon Des 2003 Jan; 11(1):23-27
• Email:
  shunter@cfr.msstate.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19980701
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly of Human Factors Applications
• End Date:
  20040630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:678d5fd2a44fbfd823bee616ba92d054cb2f6df4e90cea5c056827dbcdb713ce19941851e98643d60641ccb343664b72af7b077e14b737d5c292c1a2ebb10646
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214935/cdc_214935_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.58 MB ]