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SAE TECHNICAL PAPER SERIES

2002-01-2993

A Methodology to Analyze Aircraft Engine Gearbox and Mounting System Simultaneously Using Finite Element Analysis
Ly D. Nguyen, Taison Ku and Remo Neri
Engines and Systems Division, Honeywell International Company

World Aviation Congress & Display Phoenix, Arizonia November 5-7, 2002
400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Tel: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-5760 Web: www.sae.org

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2002-01-2993

A Methodology to Analyze Aircraft Engine Gearbox and Mounting System Simultaneously Using Finite Element Analysis
Ly D. Nguyen, Taison Ku and Remo Neri
Engines and Systems Division, Honeywell International Company

Copyright 2002 SAE International

Abstract Several partners are designing a singlepropeller aircraft, which is powered by a pair of turbine engines, transmitting power through a common gearbox. One of the challenges in the design and analysis is to accommodate design iterations and multiple load cases that effect the propulsion mounting system. An ability to quickly analyze design changes and multiple load cases will mitigate the risk of failure and facilitate design optimization. A methodology has been established to systematically analyze the entire propulsion mounting system with various mounting configurations such as failure cases or geometric changes and flight maneuvers. In this installation, the propulsion system mount points are at the gearbox mount pads. The gearbox, in turn, supports two gas turbine engines by means of two torque tubes, attaching the engines front frames to the gearbox input flanges, and a welded space frame that supports the engines mount brackets at the gearbox mount pads. The propeller is fully supported by the gearbox through its internal bearings and internal structure. Therefore, all external loads exerted on the propulsion system such as inertial, thrust, torque, gyroscopic loads, etc. are reacted at the gearbox mount pads. Complexity in the gearbox stress analysis arises from several sources: prop loading, engine mounting, and aircraft mount truss reactions. The complexity in predicting stresses in the gearbox housing from propeller loading is due to the need to properly distribute bearing and thrust loads through the multiple helical-cut gears, roller bearings, and thrust bearings supported within the gearbox. The engine mount loading adds to the gearbox loading at the input flanges and mount pads through a structurally redundant system. The aircraft mounting structure that supports the gearbox is a complex, statically indeterminant system of brackets, strut tubes, horsecollars, and elastomeric isolators. Consequently, an analysis system was created to allow single-point load application at the propeller along with inertial loads to automatically account for the complexities listed above and accurately distribute load from input points to the mount pads. This paper will discuss techniques used to simulate the entire engine mounting system such as brackets, linkages, struts, torque shaft, gearbox, gear meshing, spline gear, and horse collars for stress analysis. In addition, the paper shows the comparison between analytical and actual testing data.

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I. INTRODUCTION In the era of expanding global markets, risk-sharing partners have become a trend in developing new aircraft. The ability to deliver faster results during the design, modeling and analysis between partners is imperative. Good practices within the design and analysis process can support the integration and the transitions of design definition and greatly minimize the number of trials and errors normally associated with building new aircraft. In some situations, the design and analysis processes can be performed in parallel instead of sequential. A key to the process development is the ability to establish an analysis process map to accommodate all Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements. By understanding and mastering the strength of software packages, the integration of these packages into the design and analysis process will result in high design quality and schedule fidelity. This paper presents some of the techniques used in an efficient design and analysis process utilizing CATIA and ANSYS software to design and analyze an entire engine mounting system. Dual turbine engines that transfer power to a common gearbox and a single propeller, will power the aircraft. The mounting system consists of a gearbox, brackets, struts, horsecollar, elastomeric isolators, engine cradle, and ballistic shield. Figure 1 depicts the overall configurations of the aircraft.

Figure 2 illustrates the entire nose section of the aircraft and detail of the engine mounting system.
Engine No.1

Engine No. 2

Figure 2. Propulsion Engine Mounting System.

II. GENERAL DESIGN APPROACH Three major steps were utilized in the coordination and development of the engine mounting system design: Detail parts and assembly design in CATIA, a finite element analysis in ANSYS, and structural testing. The detail of the entire engine mounting system structures is illustrated in Figure 3
Forward Struts Aft Struts Horsecollars Gearbox

Propeller Shaft Cradle Mounting Point Engine Mounting Brackets

Ballistic Shield And Firewall

Figure 3. Engine Mounting Structures Design in CATIA. Figure 1. Single Propeller Aircraft.

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The design layout includes all connections between the gearbox, various brackets, forward and aft struts, horsecollars, elastomeric isolators, engine cradle, ballistic shield, firewall and aft struts. The engines are simplified by utilizing point mass and beam to transfer torque load. The forward and aft struts are used for the weight and structural integrity trade studies by altering their angles, X-sectional properties and the number of struts such as 6, 8 or 10 struts configuration systems. This type of trade study is critical with respect to weight reduction and structural optimization. A tenstrut configuration is utilized to illustrate the systematic approach technique in analyzing the system.

and coupled the degree of freedom (dof) as appropriate.

Ballistic Shield Forward Struts Horsecollars Rigid Firewall Interface

Elastomeric Isolators

III. GENERAL ANALYSIS APPROACH A finite element model was created in ANSYS 5.6 from CATIA design definition. A detail of data translation from CATIA to ANSYS and FE model building methodology can be found [1]. The struts were modeled as LINK 8 elements to react loads only along the strut axis because both ends of each strut were connected to an adjacent structure with a ball joint to eliminate torsion and bending moments in the slender rods. The aft struts are built using BEAM 4 elements. The firewall is constructed as element ELASTIC SHELL 63. The gearbox is created as TETRA SOLID ELEMENT 92. The engine weight and torque tube is replaced by a point mass that connects to a BEAM 4 to transfer engine weight and torque load. A simplified engine mounting system FEM model is depicted in Figure 4. The forward struts support the engine and gearbox assemblies at the gearbox mounting brackets. These brackets distribute loads from the engine and propeller into the mounting structure. A principle of the bracket design is to have a shear pin to carry most shear load and all the bolts only carry either tension or compression load as illustrated in Figure 5. The different elements are attached by using double nodes

Prop. Load Input

Mounting Brackets Gearbox

Aft Struts Engine Cradle

Figure 4.

Finite Element Model of Engine Mounting System.

Strut Attached Point and Ball Joint

Bolt Hole

Shear Pin

Figure 5. Typical Engine Mounting Bracket.

The FEM simulation of the interface between the engine-mounting bracket shear pin and the mating hole in the gearbox pad was created using LINK 10 compression only elements around the perimeter. The shear pin is inserted into the mounting pad hole that has very small tolerance and the bracket is bolted into the gearbox at four locations. Contact

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and non-contact situation simulate the interaction between the mounting pad and the shear pin. When in contact, compression only elements exert force and in no contact situation, no force acts on these elements. Figure 6 depicts the modeling technique.

component needs a through analysis, this overall FEA will be extracted to use as boundary and load conditions. A solid CATIA model of gear train design is illustrated in Figure 8 and the FEM model simulation is shown in Figure 9.
Mounting Pad Rear Panel

Mid-Panel Bracket Elements

Mounting Pad Shear Pin Hole Housing (cut-away)

Shear Pin Elements Figure 6. FEM of Gearbox and Brackets Mounting Pad.

Figure 7. Gearbox Static Structure.

Propeller Shaft (Load Input Point) Mid Gear Clutch Bull Gear

V. GEAR TRAIN SIMULATION The gearbox static structure consists of three main components, the housing, midpanel and rear pane. Figure 7 depicts a cutaway view of the gearbox structure. The basic gear transmission is symmetric about the propeller centerline. The engine output torque shaft transfers the engine power to the first gear into the idler/clutch. The clutch shaft has a spline that transfers the load into the mid-gear and the bull gear. The bull gear transmits torque load into the propeller shaft. The gear train is supported by bearings in the static structure. Each bearing liner is pressed-fit into the support structure. The initial pre-stress is included in the analysis. It is also important to note that, the primary objective here is to determine force transmission between structures. When detail

Idler Engine Torque Shaft

Figure 8. Gear Train

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F1 M9 G5 M8 C1 R6 M1 G3 M2 G1 R2

Load input point F2 F3 G6

R1

M7 R5 G2 R3

M5 G4

C2 M6 M4 M3

R4 F1 to F3: Bearing at front case M1 to M9: Bearing at mid panel R1 to R6: Bearing at rear panel G1 to G6: Gear Contact point C1 to C1: Clutch Engagement point Figure 9. FEM of Gear Train Simulation.

constructed by two BEAM 4 elements with coincident nodes at the clutch engagement C1 and C2 positions. These nodes are coupled in the plane normal to the engine axial direction. BEAM 4 elements, that were attached at the shaft and cantilevered radially out to the gear contact position, were used to model the gear teeth meshing. The nodes at the gear contact position were coupled in the local z-direction after the nodal coordinate system of the nodes were rotated such that their z-direction was parallel to the gear tooth pair interaction line. This gear train simulation allowed for a single load application point, namely the propeller mounting flange on the propeller shaft where the torque, thrust, gyroscopic, and gravitational loads could easily be imposed, and transferred correctly to the gearbox static structure.

A FEM of the gear train was created to properly distribute external loads from the propeller and engines to the gearbox static structure. The finite element analysis of the gear train consisted of BEAM 4 elements, SPRING 14 elements, and compression-only LINK 10 elements. The shafts were represented by a series of BEAM 4 elements. At the location of roller bearing, a spoke-like wheel of compression-only LINK 10 elements were radially connected from the shaft center to the perimeter of the bearing housing inner surface on the solid element of the gearbox model. This arrangement simulates radial forces of cosine distribution, which is equivalent to the practice of rotor dynamics. As for the ball bearing, which can react thrust loads, an additional spoke-like arrangement of SPRING 14 elements with one degree of freedom in the engine axial direction were utilized to transmit the thrust forces at location F1, F2, F3, M1, M3, R5, AND R6 (see Figure 9). The simulation physical interaction in radial contact between the shafts, bearing and gearbox components is illustrated in Figure 10. The clutch shafts are

Figure 10. FEM Simulation of Shafts, Bearings, and Gearbox Contact.

Following the above methodology, the gear train shown as solid model in the Figure 8 was transformed into a topological FEA structure in the Figure 9. The beam elements were used to represent the transmission shafts and gears, and the bearings were at locations supported by the gearbox front case from F1 to F3, mid panel from M1 to M9 and rear cover from R1 to R6. The contact points of the gear pairs are indicated in G1 to G6. Figure 11 shows the reaction forces at beams

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joint positions such as at gear pair contact points and bearing centers.

V. GENERAL TESTING APPROACH In order to validate the finite element model, a structure static test was used to calibrate the FEM and to determine the location of high stresses. The test setup for propeller torsional input is shown in Figure 13. A test bar was used to input torsion along the propeller shaft. Loads were applied to both ends of the test bar via two actuators. One exerted upward load, while the other side exerted downward load. A brittle lacquer was applied to the gearbox surface to determine location and direction of high stress, by noting where lacquer cracks occurred during load application.

Figure 11. Reaction Forces at Gears, Clutch and Bearings Contact Points.

By applying loads at the propeller flange and appropriate gravitational loads, the FEM predicted the stresses in the gearbox housing as shown in Figure 12.

Test Bar

Actuator

Strut

Figure 13. Static Test Bed.

Figure 12. ANSYS Stress Result.

An initial FEM analysis was used to predict the locations of high stress and to provide a qualitative comparison between the FEM and the test results. Figure 14 and 15 depict a sample lacquer cracking location and the corresponding FEM stress prediction, respectively. Based on this test, the location on the predicted FEM model and the actual test occurred in the same proximity. Having this information, strain gages were applied in the same cracking sites as well as in additional sites predicted by the FEM as shown in Figure 16.

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Having strain gages applied at strategic locations as predicted from the brittle lacquer crack patterns and the initial FEM results, various tests were conducted to verify many flight maneuver condition and different failure modes. The propeller torque and forward thrust at propeller center are used as illustration to demonstrate the accuracy between the actual test data and FEM results shown in Figure 17 and 18, respectively.
Propeller Torque
20

Cracks in Lacquer
15

6 Strut Analysis 6 Strut Test

Stress

(ksi)

Figure 14. Application.

Stress

Coating

(Lacquer)

10

0 1 -5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

-10

-15

-20

Gage Location

Figure 17. Full Propeller Torque.

Forward Thrust

Figure 15. FEM Stress Location.

Stress (ksi )

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

Gage Location

Typical Strain Gage Figure 16. Load Cells Application. ANALYSTICAL AND TESTING RESULTS

Figure 18. Forward Thrust. The charts show that the FEM stress prediction agrees well with the strain gage readings when considering nodes located near

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the strain gage location. The discrepancy between the FEM and test was attributed to differences in the casting thickness and measurement tolerance. Having this data, a correction factor was developed to correct the FEM model to match the results measured in the test.

REFERENCES [1] Nguyen, L. D., and Ku, T, Methodology to Expedite Mechanical Component Design and Analysis in Gas Turbine Engines, MED-Vol. 11, Proceedings of the ASME Manufacturing Engineering Division-2000, pp. 743-747. [2] Nguyen, L.D., and Jones, S.P. Methodology to Assess Assembly Variation in Aircraft Fuselage Structures, MED-Vol., 2-2, Manufacturing Science and Engineering 1995, pp. 1157-1161. [3] ANSYS, Inc. Design Optimization Training Manual for Release 5.7, Vol. 1, April 2000. [4] Nguyen, L.D., and Retz, K. N., Dynamic Characteristic in Fiber Placement Tooling for Aircraft Fuselage Shell, The 28th International SAMPE Technical Conference-1996, Vol. 28, pp. 1040-1047.

CONCLUSION The ability to utilize computer software effectively to deliver faster design and analysis results is important, as the need to shorten the design-to-manufacturing cycle time becomes more critical. To minimize the duration of the engineering design and analysis processes, an effective analysis method must be used to accommodate design change. This work utilizes a single load point input in a complex gearbox design to distribute the reaction to the entire engine mounting system. The results help the designer and analyst to work productively in parallel because any change in geometry or design criteria from the designer can be analyzed quickly. This method has delivered quantitative results to advance the design and analysis feedback early in the design cycle. Furthermore, the analytical and testing results show a very strong correlation. This paper has demonstrated the methodology to systematically analyze the entire propulsion engine mounting system.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to express our appreciation for the final editing Christine Lange and technical advice of Chi-Fai Chan, Bill North, Subhash Arora, Anton Liu, Xue Dong Zhu, Dave Russ, Hershing Lin, Brian Cottrell, Andy Cobb, and Mark Kessler. The authors also would like to thank Honeywell International Inc. for providing the opportunity to publish this paper.