Abstract

Aero-engine turbine blades are cooled to extend their operating lives under arduous conditions. Designing and validating new cooling systems is a challenging process, which consumes large amounts of time and resource – the design process requires much iteration through a large web of technical activities. The process complexity tends to obscure the most appropriate improvements and makes it difficult to predict the likely impact of changes. Modelling the process provides a means of investigating changes in behaviour created by adjustments to the structure. This presentation will describe how the cooling system design process was captured and modelled, providing the basis for a design process improvement activity. It will also show how methods are being developed for the P3-Applied Signposting Modelling system to add behaviour to structural models and to allow the impact of process changes to be quantified.