Automating the Generation of MBD-Driven Assembly Work Instruction Documentation for Aircraft Components

Abstract

The classical approach to the creation of assembly work instructions for high value, complex products is time-consuming and prone to error. It requires a process engineer to write the work instructions step-by-step and manually insert specific technical information, using an encompassing document of manufacturing parameters or life cycle management software. The latter offers synchronisation to design changes through updateable parameters, however major design modifications still require significant manual work to modify the text contents and structure of the work instructions. This leaves the work instruction documentation vulnerable to human error, as well as making the process time-consuming to fully synchronise. A methodology was therefore developed to resolve these issues, utilising JavaScript and VBA for Office to create a simple interface for rapid content generation for work instructions including text, MBD extracted parameters, images and formatting. The overall methodology speeds up the creation of assembly work instructions and reduces errors by implementing automatic insertion of parameters from an MBD model. The implementation and effectiveness of the suggested approach is demonstrated on a case study for the assembly of the joined wing configuration of the RACER helicopter, the latest generation of compound helicopters of Airbus Helicopter.