Quality of life:: activities at Volvo Aero Corporation to assess and improve the accuracy of assumptions and methods employed in calculating the service life of aero engine components

We will discuss the duality system for service life prediction of modern aerospace engines introduced at Volvo Aero. The requirements on a quality system for such complex analyses must satisfy high demands on flexibility and extendibility, while not compromising reliability, clarity and ease of use. The main focus of this paper is on how software, methods instructions and a quality ranking system are used for assessing and improving the accuracy and reliability of life predictions. While cost and bottom line profit are driving factors, this quality system for life predictions benefits the engineer in his daily work. He saves time by using a structured system with access to a company-wide methods library. The risk of operator errors is much lower, because of the structured system, and the quality ranking gives consistent information about the assessment level of each analysis. Continuous improvement is facilitated by identifying weak links in the analysis chain, and because improved or new methods are easily communicated to all life prediction engineers. The dataflow and workflow of the life prediction analysis are described as a process chart. Ongoing work includes ranking and quantitative assessment of common assumptions and models, in collaboration with national and international research associates.