General Electric Company

USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Lowell Wilson Bauer

Marc Thomas Edgar

Gene E Wiggs

Richard Alan Wesling

Martin Kin-Fei Lee

Michael Charles Ostrowski

Thomas Randolph Campbell

John P Costas

Andrew James Worsey

A method, system, and software for assessing the cost tradeoffs associated with performing inspection includes determining measurement variations and product characteristic variations to define an inspection plane. The inspection plane is divided into a plurality of regions corresponding to respective different outcomes resulting from an inspection process. The probability of each outcome is determined based on a probability mass in each region of the inspection plane, wherein the probability mass is based on a joint probability density of the measurement and product characteristic variations. Costs are associated to various outcomes based on the inspection process, and overall costs of the inspection process are computed by using the associated costs and the determined probability of each outcome based on the regions of the inspection plane.

Method and system for assessing the quality and cost of inspection

In a system and method for saving and retrieving process capability and guidance information related to supporting product design and manufacturing activities, specific capability and guidance information related to sets of standardized product attributes are collected and stored as a plurality of records in a database. A user may then access the database through a suitable computer program interface and design a product using any combination of standardized attributes. Upon each attribute selection, the system queries the database and retrieves the process capability and guidance information associated with the received set of attributes. This information is then displayed to the user to assist in product design and manufacturing activities. Users may also group information retrieved relating to various sets of attributes and generate composite checklists including ranked listings of relevant guidance information. Users are thus enabled to view and reference a previously unavailable quantity of information specifically related to the product being designed or manufactured.

Storage and retrieval of process capability and guidance information, and computer media therefor

A method for providing producibility information to a user during a design process includes providing process capability models with integrated coaching information and providing a producibility evaluation worksheet having at least one input and at least one output, the input being selectable to represent a specific design. The worksheet is initialized with a relevant process capability model that is used to determine a producibility measure indicating an effect of the input on the output. The producibility measure is then displayed to the user.

Product design process with included producibility information

A tolerancing method includes modeling positions and sizes of apertures in an assembly of parts. The parts are best-fit together. Aperture position in the parts is statistically varied. The best-fitting and statistical variations of the aperture positions are repeated for a statistically significant number of trials to create a statistical model. The size of fasteners for assembly through the mating apertures may be selected as determined in the statistical model.

Floating fastener tolerance method

The present invention discloses a system and method for determining airfoil characteristics from coordinate measuring machine probe center data. A coordinate measuring machine measures external coordinates along an airfoil and sends the coordinates to a computer. The computer sorts and orders the coordinates into a plurality of probe center points along a plurality of sections along the airfoil. The probe center points are triangulated to detect and eliminate errant points. Then the probe center points are correlated to a nominal part of the airfoil stored in the memory of the computer until a specified plane of interest is obtained. A discrete inset operation is performed on the correlated data for the plane of interest until a maximum thickness is obtained. The inset points are then joined to form an airfoil meanline, which is used to determine characteristics such as leading edge thickness, trailing edge thickness, and chord length.

System and method for determining airfoil characteristics from

A system for finish machining an in-process part having an inaccessible interior cavity, an envelope of excess material to be machined, and a predefined minimum wall thickness includes a fixture for holding the in-process part to be finish machined. Also included is a co-ordinate measuring machine having a ball probe for measuring external co-ordinates of the in-process part and also having a sonic thickness probe for measuring wall thickness of the in-process part at various selected points on the part. A programmed digital computer is operably connected to the co-ordinate measuring machine to receive data regarding the measurements made. Stored in the computer is a model of the part which is to be machined and minimum wall thickness requirements at various points on the part. The computer is further programmed to calculate the optimal position of the final part in relation to its interior cavity such that wall thickness requirements are maximally satisfied over the total part surface.

System and method for finish machining an in-process part having an

A signal processor is described for pulse-echo systems such as sonar and seismographic systems in which wave energy is transmitted and received as a train of discrete pulses of different frequencies ordered in predetermined sequence. The receiver comprises a plurality of signal processing channels each of which selects one subpulse and delays it through an interval of duration inversely related to its time position in the pulse train, to thus bring the received subpulse signals into time alignment so that when added their summed amplitude constitutes the target signal output. For interference level compensation, a running estimate is made of the interference level in each of the signal processing channels, and the channel signals then are weighted by this interference estimate as an inverse function of its magnitude. Interference level compensation in this manner provides optimized target visibility but may result in variation of signal levels in the doppler processing output channels, both channel-to-channel and within each channel as a function of range, so that if the processor output were directly displayed target returns of equal strength could be given unequal prominence in the display depending on their specific range and doppler values. Normalization to avoid this is accomplished by feed-forward of running estimates of the mean and variance signal values and combination thereof in particular relationship with the processor output to yield zero mean and unit variance in signal level outputs of the processor.

Signal processor for pulse-echo system providing interference level

A conversion system is disclosed for generating a desired bandpass waveform rom digital samples of a lower frequency, bandlimited original waveform. The system utilizes a single digital to analog converter and an impulse driver to generate a weighted pulse train that contains frequency shifted replicas of the primary spectra of the original waveform. Bandpass filtering rejects all but selected replica spectra for reconstitution.

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Niskayuna, NY, United States of America

Lowell Wilson Bauer