NES Bearing Co.‘s place as a U.S. bearing reverse engineering leader, and the recipe for a successful RE
In late October, a leading provider of advanced engine repairs walked into Napoleon Engineering Services (NES) with a question.
Four years earlier, NES performed a reverse engineering (RE) for this company on a legacy component for a gas turbine engine. NES was so successful in this undertaking, providing a detailed report that expressed professionalism and authority along with the appropriate pictures, data and drawings, that it returned with a similar request this fall – this time on replaceable components for a different batch of bearings.
Reverse engineering plays a critical role in sustaining the aerospace industry – the aircraft sector, in particular – through helping to maintain the bearing supply for legacy aircraft. And over the last 27 years, NES has established itself as a national leader in this service, conducting RE jobs for hundreds of satisfied customers.
“We’ve hung our hat on being able to help our customers out of a jam,” Chris Napoleon, NES’ president and chief engineer, noted.
Yes, NES, for nearly the last three decades, has only sharpened its bearing reverse engineering capabilities for Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) by the Federal Aviation Administration. This, however, is a process that can also be applied to the industrial market, specifically by OEMs in need of truly thorough reverse engineering support that’s punctuated with a comprehensive requirement drawing.
This kind of RE work, however, is easier said than done. A seemingly simple procedure on the surface, it actually requires a broad skillet of knowledge and proficiency to achieve the desired outcome. It’s an admittedly painstaking process, even for an operation as experienced as NES. Napoleon Engineering, however, possesses the recipe needed to attain those results. And it details those actions in this piece.
THE GENERAL key to executing a quality reverse engineering job is to apply all available knowledge and information. For NES, that includes the following 10 foundational elements: dimensional, visual, metallurgy/chemistry, part number, government sites, overhaul manuals, bearing engineering handbooks, customer-supplied information, application engineering knowledge and product design/manufacturing standards. Essential to the latter two items is knowing how to properly merge them into the manufacturing process. And that means finding a harmonious common ground.
On the application engineering side, one must understand the design strategies of the application itself. Since, in most cases, we’re not redesigning for the application, it’s incumbent upon an engineering team to have a grasp on what the bearing is going into. “So, there’s a need for broad based application engineering experience as well as intuitive knowledge about the role that the bearing plays within the application,” Napoleon said.
However, product design in support of manufacturing is also crucial.
Oftentimes, the tolerances associated with a specific target value for a design characteristic are a function of manufacturing capability. Knowing the limits of modern manufacturing techniques is critical to offering an RE solution that meets application needs, manufacturing capability and agreed- upon costs.
“You have to come to an agreement as to what is most reasonable because it has to work in the application,” Napoleon went on. “There’s a lot of scaffolding involved; you need a solid foundation of knowledge to do an RE job the right way.”
A THOROUGH reverse engineering also incorporates all inspection capabilities specific to bearings from dimensional and visual to chemical and metallurgical.
For this, one must have both good eyes and ears, Napoleon insisted Measurements can “speak to us,” about what we need to be focusing on from a dimensional standpoint. Certain physical characteristics can inform us as to how critical a certain feature is. “So, it’s important to be a good listener and really be willing to look at a bearing,” Napoleon said. “That’s a huge part of it.”
Additionally, an engineering team must be willing to implement various standards, from both a quality and industry standpoint.
A good RE typically defines a bearing’s critical characteristics and the control plan associated with them. This includes dimensional traits, but also material quality, non-destructive testing requirements, marking and packaging specifications. The use of bearing standards and catalogs, engineering handbooks, overhaul manuals and customer-supplied materials, meanwhile, greatly enhances the quality of the overall reverse engineering project by defining the characteristics that control the collective quality of workmanship of the completed bearing while ensuring its success within the application.
AFTER UTILIZING all available resources, engineers must capture that data, ensure its accuracy and relevancy and, finally, create a logical link between the part and its drawing. In the end, everything needs to add up.
“We need to look at a part and, through our visual inspection, be able to understand how it’s being manufactured.” Napoleon began of the overarching process. “What are the techniques, what’s the equipment that’s being used and how does that drive the tolerances of certain characteristics and the criticality of those characteristics, which then drive the tolerances? And that’s validated by the dimensional measurements, what the targets are and how tightly controlled they are.
“Then, you have to marry that with your understanding of manufacturing capability and typical application engineering practices for design of those characteristics for particular industries.”
Reaching this point, however, is far from easy.
Some traits are more critical than others depending on the industry or application. What’s important to a bearing in a food processing plant might be different from that on a main-shaft gas turbine engine.
The difference between NES’ Source Qualification Inspection program, an industrial reverse engineering initiative, and an aerospace bearing RE is being mindful and observant of what is critical to each application for the appropriate addition into the process.
But even that’s an inherently difficult step. “because you’re putting ourself out there.”
“Pulling all of this together is a monumental task,” Napoleon concluded. “It takes an organization that has all of these skills and capabilities and is able to communicate effectively across all areas of specialty to create a clear and concise finished requirements package.”
By J.P. BUTLER
Marketing Coordinator
