1. Metallic to Composite Conversion Prime Contract# FA8650-15-C5617
DoD Advanced Composite Maintainers - Technical Interchange Meeting HILL AFB August 22-24, 2017
C-5 Ram Air Inlet
Metallic to Composite Conversion
Prime Contract# FA C5617
UDRI Subcontract No. RSC15056

2. HISTORY OF ACE Founded in 1982 in Indianapolis, IN 100+ employees
Divisions
OEM Manufacturing- Rotary, UAV, Fixed Wing, Tooling
MRO Repair- Flight Controls, Structures, Radomes, On Wing AOG
Certifications
AS9100C
FAA Repair Station E1GR0910
EASA Repair Station
Nadcap Composites
ITAR Registered
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

3. ACE CAPABILITIES Engineering Services Laminating
Autoclave & Oven Curing
Precision 5-Axis CNC Machining
Paint
Fabrication and Assembly
Metrology & Quality Dimensional Inspection
Materials Test Laboratory
Tooling
Reverse Engineering
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

4. BACKGROUND
C-5 has a number of aluminum and aluminum honeycomb components subject to corrosion, aging, heavy, and difficult to repair
Ram Air Inlet chosen for Composite Conversation as an ideal representative part that was seeing a corrosion trend
Team
AFRL – Materials and Manufacturing Directorate - Advanced Power Technology Office (APTO) Project Lead
C-5 Systems Program Office
Air Mobility Command Fuel Efficiency Office
University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI)
Applied Composites Engineering, Inc. (ACE)
Problems Addressed
Reduced weight (fuel savings) 19% reduction (34 lbs vs. 42 lbs)
Reduced cost of replacement parts (composite inlet ~ $100K less than OEM) and maintenance
Increased corrosion resistance
Increased part life / aircraft availability
Current Status
Composite RAI installed May 2017 and flight hours beginning to accumulate
June 2017 – initial on-wing inspection after accumulation of several hours of flight
Early 2018 – final performance analysis – further improvements or approval to transition for fleet install
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

5. PROGRAM Summary
UDRI responsible for program management, engineering, design, and testing
UDRI subcontracted composite manufacturing to ACE
Legacy inlets sent to ACE for Reverse Engineering and CAD model creation
Collaborative Design with UDRI. ACE and UDRI collaborated on selection of composite materials to match OEM material strength, optimize weight, and enhance corrosion resistance.
Laminate design to minimize manufacturing cost and future repair costs
Tooling methodology determined and tooling designed/built
SRR, PDR, CDR participation with full team
First part delivered to Robins AFB April 2017 and subsequently installed
On-wing inspection June 2017
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

6. AS REC’D GFE/RAM AIR INLET FOR REVERSE ENGINEERING
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

7. REVERSE ENGINEERING
“Novel advances in materials and technology today can save the Air Force money over the long term,” said Capt. Randall Hodkin, Aviation Project Manager for APTO. “This is a small part that alone may not affect overall fuel savings, but there are about 1000 (aluminum panels) on a C-5. We’re demonstrating a proof of concept for technology that can make a big difference.”
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

8. TOOLING
ACE designed a combination of metallic and composite layup tools that were matched with developed part shape, tool manufacturability, and CTE concerns.
Composite tools manufactured from carbon fiber LTM tooling using Axiom’s AX5260 system
Composite tools laminated off master patterns machined from RenShape 5008 epoxy tooling board scaled to achieve desired final parts tolerances.
Metallic tools are direct cut aluminum for veins. Break down tools designed to facilitate manufacturing. CTE mismatch (Aluminum tool to Carbon Fiber laminate) used to enhance part compaction during cure.
All masters and molds CMM and laser scan inspected to verify dimensional requirements, along with thermal surveys performed to verify even heating.
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

9. FABRICATION
All parts / sub-components used traditional hand pre-preg layup, vacuum bag / autoclave curing hand layup prepreg processing.
Resin systems that allow for an oven cure would still be autoclave cured for increased material properties, improved compaction, and to create a better surface finish that is easier to paint.
Overall part shape is constrained by mating components, therefore leaving the major manufacturing improvements to the elimination of intermediate fastening, bonding and assembly steps.
Co-curing of subcomponents allowed for reduced part count/sub components hence helping reduce part weight, manufacturing time, and therefore the associated part cost.
All curing using adhesive film and autoclave. No hot-bonding/blankets or cold bonding required.
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

10. LAMINATING
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

11. 5-AXIS CNC Machining
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

12. Prime
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

13. FIRST ARTICLE
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

14. INSPECTION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE
Each RAI be inspected per ACE’s standard AS9102 process:
Incoming inspection of materials
All tooling at various stages of manufacture
Individual and assembled components
Final part will have ACE Certificate of Conformance
Material certs
Quality inspection reports, AS9102-3
Production travelers
Validation of cure
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

15. THE FINAL CURE
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

16. INSTALLATION AND FLIGHT TESTING OF THE C-5M INLET
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GA, UNITED STATES
Courtesy Photo
Air Force Research Laboratory
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Georgia – The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Power Technology Office is in the process of testing a new, lightweight composite RAM Air Inlet system (right) for the C-5M Super Galaxy Transport Aircraft. The new part is intended to replace legacy air inlets, mitigating corrosion issues while providing a lightweight, cost-effective solution to help maintain the fleet. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo/released)
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

17. C-5 RAM AIR INLET
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GA, UNITED STATES Courtesy Photo Air Force Research Laboratory ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Georgia – The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Power Technology Office is in the process of testing a new, lightweight composite RAM Air Inlet system (right) for the C-5M Super Galaxy Transport Aircraft. The new part is intended to replace legacy air inlets, mitigating corrosion issues while providing a lightweight, cost-effective solution to help maintain the fleet. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo/released)
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

18. REMOVING THE C-5 INLET
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GA, UNITED STATES Courtesy Photo Air Force Research Laboratory Subscribe 1 ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Georgia – A maintainer removes an air inlet on the underside of the wing of a C-5M Super Galaxy Transport Aircraft during a periodic maintenance cycle. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Power Technology Office is in the process of testing a new, lightweight composite RAM Air Inlet system that is intended to replace legacy air inlets, mitigating corrosion issues while providing a lightweight, cost-effective solution to help maintain the fleet. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo/released)
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

19. ON-SITE PROJECT TEAM
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

20. DOCUMENTATION/DATA PACKAGE
Final report summarizing
Reverse engineering process and documentation / data
Technical Data Package
Drawings
Models
Methods of Manufacture
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

21. FINAL PRODUCT
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

22. Excerpt from ARFL Press Release 4/26/17
Since the design data for the original parts did not exist since the pieces were manufactured so long ago, engineers reverse- engineered a legacy part to make sure they could develop this equivalent, if not better, air inlet. Legacy inlet components were 3- D scanned and modeled to develop baseline technical data for a new part, which the Air Force now has on record. The newly engineered composite inlets were subject to significant testing ranging from material coupon tests to bird strike, hail impact and weather and corrosion testing in the laboratory environment to make sure they would meet the same stringent standards of the old parts. “This new part is as strong, if not stronger. It’s a well-made part,” said Hodkin. The resulting piece is 19 percent lighter than legacy inlets, weighing only 34 pounds versus 42. Moreover, the new air inlet costs almost $100,000 less per part to produce—a significant savings over the lifecycle of the aircraft. 
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.

23. The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE
The information enclosed is confidential and proprietary to ACE. It’s not to be dispersed or expressed in any form without written permission.