Benefited from the recent development of the high-performance computer and software for finite element analysis, numerical modelling has become one of the efficient tools to help understand cutting mechanism, study tool wear and improve surface quality during machining process. Commonly used material constitutive models are summarized, and analyze several key factors encountered when establishing the cutting simulation model. A systemic introduction of the recent research development involved in chip formation, cutting temperature, cutting forces, tool wear, tool design and residual stress prediction as well as microstructure evolution simulation was addressed. Finally, toward the existing challenges in cutting simulation modeling, the future scope and hot issues needing further study in this field were outlined.

    Spinning forming process is an incremental forming process with no or little cutting and low forming load, which is widely used in the modern manufacturing industry. In this paper, a two-step dividing spinning process for forming a cylinder part with a bottom flange was proposed and studied. The numerical simulations for the spinning process were carried on using finite element method, considering process parameters such as incline angle of the roller, the radius of roller’s fillet, the friction coefficient and the feed ratio. The influences of these parameters on forming load and distribution of wall thickness and strain during the process were obtained and analyzed. The feasibility of the process was confirmed by experiments.

    Based on the aero-engine simulation work development planning, this paper analyzed the requirement of aero-engine manufacturing process simulation technology from manufacturing dimensions. It proposed to establish the technological system of aero-engine manufacturing process simulation following some principles. It provided a preliminary framework of the technological system based on demands corresponding to five kinds of difficult stages. Furthermore, it analyzed the key technologies should be broken through recently. The research is useful to implementing the development planning and directing the development of aero-engine manufacturing process simulation technology.

    Bionic studies have shown that micro-structures such as pits and trenches have excellent performances such as drag reduction and self-cleaning. The processing of micro-texture is of great significance for saving energy, reducing pollution and improving product life. In order to effectively predict the effect of elliptical vibration-assisted cutting micro-texture, this paper proposes a trajectory planning of elliptical vibration cutting micro-texture based on the characteristics of the resonant frequency of the elliptical vibration-assisted cutting mechanism and the rotation rate of the rotary reference surface. The loads of elliptical vibration are exerted on finite element tool model by transforming periodic vibration loads into the Fourier series. Thus, the finite element model of elliptical vibration-assisted cutting micro-texture is established. Based on the established finite element simulation model, the instantaneous Mises stress distribution and cutting force is analyzed by selecting different vibration parameters in micro-texture generation. The results of the finite element simulation verifies the correctness of elliptical vibration-assisted cutting micro-texture, and provides a reference for actual elliptical vibration-assisted cutting micro-texture.

    Abrasive flow machining (AFM) was proposed to finish the problems of high capital cost and low efficiency of surface polishing on the aero-engine blisk. By establishing the simulation model based on whether the blisk fixture tool contains the core mold and the gland, and compared the distribution law of the flow field in the simulation, redesigned the fixture structure to fit for the blisk. On this basis, the AFM processing experiment is carried out. The result shows that after adding the core mold and the gland structure, the AFM process can effectively improve the local flow field of the blisk, and solve the problem of the inconsistent processing effect and abrasive erosion on the sharp edge. The surface roughness of the flow channel is reduced by 0.6μm, and the surface quality has been further improved.

    During the milling process of titanium alloy thin-walled parts, the cutter angle has a significant influence on the workpiece deformation, milling force and milling vibration. Extend the service life of cutting tools and reduce tool wear, milling process simulation model of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy thin-walled pieces is established by using ABAQUS software, with the milling force and milling temperature as evaluation index, using the single factor and orthogonal method to analyze the effects of cutting tool rake angle, relief angle and helix angle on the milling force and milling temperature, and the milling force experiment is carried out to verify the simulation results. The simulation results show that with the increase of the rake angle, the milling force decreases and the milling temperature fluctuates. With the increase of the relief angle, the milling force decreases, and the milling temperature decreases first and then increases. With the increase of helix angle, the maximum axial force increases, the maximum tangential force slowly decreases, the maximum radial force has no obvious variation, and milling temperature decreases first and then increases. Through orthogonal test and range analysis, the order of primary and secondary influence degree of different factors on indexes and the optimal level combination of factors are defined.

    Aimed at a large-opening specimen of composite fuselage panel from some kind of aircraft, the boundary conditions of mould design were determined from the aspects of stiffness requirement, use requirement and cost requirement of mould. In order to meet the boundary condition requirements of mould design, a square steel-pipe frame mould for composite panel forming was proposed. In the design of the mould, at first the mould material “INVAR” steel was determined with comparing the advantages and disadvantages of a variety of commonly-used mould materials. Then the structure layout and structure dimension parameters of the mould were introduced. By means of finite element simulation, the overall stiffness of the mould and the strength of the lift-condition were simulated and calculated. The calculation results show that the overall stiffness of the die is good and can meet the design requirements. Compared with traditional sheet-steel frame mould from the overall stiffness of the mould and the weight of the mould, the square steelpipe frame mould has greater advantages in composite panel forming.

    Fabrication of high performance ceramics with complex structures was the difficulty of traditional ceramic processing methods, with additive technology, the manufacturing restriction greatly reduces. However, how to use additive technology to realize the stable preparation of porous sample is still a key problem. The process of photocuring and sintering was studied and optimized for stereolithography of zirconia. The results show that the optimum parameters include 5s of exposure time, 30μm of layer thickness and 1480℃ of sintering temperature for the DLP method. With these parameters, zirconia structure with regular porous units could be prepared, and the microhardness and relative density were 13.91GPa and 95% respectively. The industrial CT model was reconstructed and compared with the theoretical model, indicating the homogeneity at the macroscopic scale; the stress distribution, the compressive curve in elastic stage and the morphology of the cross section corresponded well with the FEM results, indicating the optimal value of compressive properties. High performance porous zirconia samples formed by stereolithography can provide a new choice for lightweight design in aviation field.

    Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and titanium (Ti) stacks are used widely in aviation, aerospace, automobile and other fields owing to the excellent performance. Because of the difference of material processing characteristics, different parameters are applied in drilling process of CFRP and Ti for satisfactory processing quality. However, CFRP and Ti are usually drilled together for the coaxiality of holes and machining efficiency. There are a lot of problems when drilling CFRP/Ti stacks, such as interface burns of holes, scratch of CFRP and the worse aperture consistency. In order to solve the above problems, a low temperature drilling process was proposed, and the drilling thrust, aperture consistency and surface quality of CFRP/Ti stacks in low temperature were studied by drilling experiments. The results show that the thrust force of CFRP/Ti stacks increases while aperture consistency and surface quality are improved in low temperature, which prove the feasibility of drilling CFRP/Ti stacks in low temperature.

    The composite material has superior material properties, but it leads to the malpractice of cured deformation. Aiming at the deformation of composite components after cured forming, this paper takes the composite components as the research object, and obtains the deformation data by means of measurement to compensate and correct it. Several measurement bottlenecks such as the establishment of measurement system, the selection of measurement datum and clamping mode, the fast reconstruction of compensation model are discussed.

    To improve the quality and efficiency of the information management of aircraft assembly process, the integrated management system is used to control and manage the aircraft assembly flexible assembly to realize the integration of aircraft assembly process. In this paper, the integrated management system in the application of flexible aircraft assembly fixtures, the architecture of integrated management system, data format and communication interface are summarized, such as data transmission and adjustment of flexible fixture after driving process is analyzed, and to summarize the plane flexible assembly technology system, finally, the present situation of the application of integrated management system on the flexible fixture were studied. Through the research, the integrated management system can improve the assembly efficiency and information management quality of flexible tooling.

    Based on the collaboration and sharing environment of engineering data center of Aero Engine Corporation of China and the characteristics and requirements of aero-engine manufacturing simulation business, an integrated application system of simulation data management is constructed, which covers the business functions of simulation result data management, simulation data definition and management, simulation resource management, data collaboration and so on. A useful exploration is made for unified management and collaborative sharing of simulation data of aero-engine manufacturing.