System and method for forming perforations in a barrel section

摘要

A drilling system may include a plurality of robotic drilling units. Each one of the robotic drilling units may include a drill end effector positioned inside a barrel section. The barrel section may be configured as a composite sandwich structure having an inner face sheet. The robotic drilling units maybe operable in synchronized movement with one another to drill a plurality of perforations into the inner face sheet using the drill end effectors in a manner providing a predetermined percent-open-area of the inner face sheet.

主权项

1. A method of fabricating an engine inlet, comprising the steps of:
providing an engine inlet inner barrel section configured as a composite sandwich structure having an inner face sheet; robotically drilling, using a plurality of synchronized robotic drilling units, a plurality of perforations in the inner face sheet after final cure of the composite sandwich structure, wherein the drilling comprises indexing a hole pattern of the perforations to one or more cell walls of a honeycomb core of the composite sandwich structure, and positioning the hole pattern such that each perforation is located at a spaced distance from the cell walls; and forming the plurality of perforations in a quantity providing a predetermined percent-open-area of the inner face sheet.