The first spot on our list of MNCs (Multinational Corporations) that our school would be visiting is Goodrich. This company certainly has a pleasant name and the name actually came from its founder, Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. Goodrich is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in North Carolina. They manufacture many important parts in the aircraft such as the landing gear and the nacelle.
Even though Goodrich does not manufacture the engines of the plane,its contributions like designing and manufacturing the nacelle( the cover of the engine) should not be overlooked as the nacelle plays a vital role in the aircraft. The nacelle not only protects the engine from the harsh environments of the atmosphere thousands of metres above sea level but also consist of components such as inlet cowl, fan cowl, thrust reverser, core cowl and nozzle. The only one I remember more clearly of its function is the thrust reverser. The thrust reverser as its name suggest reverse the direction of the thrust created by the engine. This is used in the landing of the aircraft. An aircraft weighs hundreds of tonnes and the speed it comes in landing is high. Therefore, the aircraft possesses great momentum and requires a longer runway to decelerate and reach taxi speed. With the thrust reverser, less force is needed to stop the aircraft and shorter runways can be built. This also make more places suitable for building an airport.
On 14 November, students from Hwa Chong Institution organised a visit to Goodrich to learn more from such multinational corporations and perhaps develop an interest in the aerospace industry. It was a 3 hour visit. The first half was a presentation by the engineers of Goodrich, explaining an elaborating the process of the development of products of the company such as the nacelle and what are the precautions taken in developing products.
First, the engineers talked about the designing of the nacelle which is the main product manufactured by Goodrich. For every series of aircraft, their engines are different, therefore a different nacelle is needed to suit the engine. This is where Goodrich plays an important role. Goodrich has manufactured nacelle for world class commercial airliners such as Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Airbus A350 XWB, Bombardier CSeries and the Mitsubishi Regional jet. They design the nacelle through a 3D simulation program. Before such technology, engineers had to draw from every possible angle of the nacelle to give a "360 degree" view of the part. Now, using such a program, engineers can draw up a new 3D design much faster.
The engineers also talked about the potential dangers to an aircraft due to the design. Firstly, the material used to make the aircraft needed to be light yet very strong. The pressure difference between the aircraft cabin and the atmospheric air several thousands feet up in the sky is drastically different. A lot of pressure in on the surface of the aircraft and the material used to build the external surface of the plane needs to withstand this pressure or it would endanger the lives of the people in the cabin. Also, especially for the nacelle, it has to withstand great temperature difference. The engine in the nacelle creates a lot of heat and the temperature may rise to thousands of degrees Celsius. The atmospheric air would be in the negative region and drastic temperature changes and expansion and contraction could cause the nacelle to crack, exposing the engine to the harsh environments, leading to ultimate failure of the jet engine.
The material used nowadays in making the body of the aircraft are composite materials. They make up 70% of the body of the aircraft. It is a common misconception that aluminium is used to cover the aircraft. Composite materials such as carbon laminate are lighter and stronger and corrosion resistant, making it a more suitable material than aluminium. However, the carbon laminate is painted over to give a shiny feel. I guess not many people would feel safe if they knew that what separates them from the air outside is carbon. Also, we learnt that bird strikes, hail and even lightning are common hazards to the plane. Bird strikes and hail damages the exterior of plane and could dent or penetrate the hard external structure of the plane. Lightning strikes could potential destroy the plane completely. However, with ingenious engineering, lightning bolt that strikes the plane would be conducted through the plane and back into the environment. Therefore, the passengers would be safe.
Then, we were split into three groups to go down to the workstation to see the manufacturing, repairing processes first hand. There were three stations set up for us to view. The first station I went was the automated cutting machine. A roll of composite material is unrolled onto the cutting board. The engineer would then input the specific dimensions to be cut. A vacuum would suck the sheet of material to the board tightly. With the laser pointing, it guides the knife to cut the material at the exact spot to the specified dimensions. It is fast ,accurate and save on labour cost. However, one disadvantage is that it is tedious to configure the machine every time and the operator must be highly trained. The room is also kept at 17 degrees Celsius at a controlled humidity in order to give the composite material longer shelf life.
Next, we arrived at the vacuum packing station. Ever wonder how people fix dents and damages to the exterior of the aircraft. One of the most important step in this process is vacuum packing. This is actually material curing. Several layers of composite materials are placed under a heating blanket. Also, putting tacky tape around the material and covering it with a layer of plastic, a vacuum pu.mp is connected to the "bag". The person had to constantly look for gaps in the "bag" to prevent entry of air. The vacuum pumps sucks out air and with heat and pressure, the layers of materials are fused together to form a strong and hard material. The real process of repairing damage of aircraft would require numerous repeats of the vacuum packing process. It is really tedious.
The last station is the laser projector design station. With a software and laser projection, the operators can check whether the composite materials are cut to the exact dimensions. Accuracy is vital in the aircraft as excess or deficiency could cause much problems to the aircraft as parts may not be able to fit well together.
To be such an engineer in the aerospace industry, you really need to have great patience and have steady hands. Everything needs to be precise and exact. The engineers all try to work for perfection as with perfecting the aircraft, the aircraft can bring comfort and more importantly, safety to her passengers. We definitely gain insights to the working of the aircraft. However, we did see some familiar concepts such as pressure and lift and drag of an aeroplane.However, what stood out for me the most was that the engineers had great passion for their job. The job is tedious and could be repetitive but I feel that it is the sense of satisfaction of contributing to the building and designing of aircraft parts that spur many engineers to continue and do their utmost in their job. Every step of the manufacturing process is vital and Goodrich has strove for perfection in its manufacturing which could explain their success. As long Goodrich has committed staff and engineers and that jet engines mounted on the plane's wings remain popular and commercially viable, I believe Goodrich will continue on this road of success. This visit to Goodrich is certainly an eye-opener and I am once again grateful for such an invaluable opportunity.
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