Reliability-Based Fatigue Optimization of an Air Plane Slat Track with Respect to Manufacturing Tolerances*

Extended Version of the contribution in the DVM-Report 135.

Dr. rer.nat. Michael Hack was born in St. Ingbert on July 11th 1967. He graduated as Diplom-Technomathematiker at the University of Kaiserslautern in Nov. 1992. where in May 1998 he obtained his PhD. The PhD research was done in common projects with TecMath GmbH which was partly acquired by LMS International in 1997. He worked at LMS in method development and as development manager. From 2000 onwards he switched to product management. As product line manager for the durability product line in the simulation division of LMS he took part in numerous research projects and published on hysteresis operators, rainflow counting, thermal fatigue, reliability, and optimization topics.

Ing. Roberto d’Ippolito, acquired his MSc degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Naples (Italy). He has a solid background in process integration and design optimisation, robustness and reliability, probabilistic modelling of structures with more than 4 years experience with reliability-based design optimization in engineering mechanics and composite materials. He has more than 18 publications and is currently in the final stage of his Ph.D. in collaboration with K.U. Leuven, Division PMA (with Prof. Vandepitte). His main field of specialization is reliability based design optimisation of composite structures, especially for aerospace applications. Roberto d'Ippolito now works for NOESIS Solutions N.V. (LMS subsidiary) in the function of Research and Development Manager with special focus on forward research activities.

Dr. Stijn Donders was born in Tilburg, The Netherlands, on October 23, 1977. He received his M.Sc. in Applied Physics at the University of Twente, Enschede (Netherlands) in June 2002. In February 2008, he obtained his Ph. D. at the Catholic University of Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division PMA, with a dissertation entitled ‟Computer-Aided Engineering Methodologies for Robust Automotive NVH Design”. He has performed his PhD research while working at LMS International in Leuven (Belgium), where he started as research engineer in October 2002. Since then, he has worked and published on various topics, such as stochastic and fuzzy FE Methods, robust design, substructuring, concept CAE modeling, and spot weld modeling. From 2005 onwards, he obtained his current position of research project leader CAE, with focus on research and project management in the fields of structural analysis, vibro-acoustics, and vehicle dynamics.

Geert Van Der Linden was born in Leuven, Belgium on July 26th 1974. He received his M. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) in July 1999. He started working at ASCO Industries the same year as a process engineer in industrial development but soon switched to research. Since then he submitted and supervised many research projects, both national and European, and was responsible for extending the capabilities of the Design Office into the field of testing. In that latest capacity he was also responsible for several Flight Test Instrumentation and certification programs. In 2008 he obtained his current position in supply chain management and production planning, and is now active as master production scheduler, focusing on streamlining and optimizing the entire operational process chain, ranging from purchasing, logistics, warehousing, and planning to production control.