Demand is increasing for effective online tools to perform collaborative engineering design by geographically separated teams. In particular, tools that facilitate the concept ideation phase of the engineering design process are sought for immediate implementation in product design. In this work, researchers conducted a literature review, interviews with practicing engineers, and a thorough web search to identify available tools and the desired features and requirements. A set of 100 web-based collaborative tools were identified then filtered down to 18 candidates which met the minimum criteria. These 18 were systematically evaluated by the researchers who rated their satisfaction of 11 requirements. The five highest rated finalist platforms were more thoroughly tested by design teams who used the platforms in design sprint activities. Evaluator ratings and feedback were collected at multiple points and several best practices were discovered during testing. Conceptboard(3) received the highest evaluator ratings, with few negative comments, and is expected to be an effective tool for collaborative engineering design.

Modern military aircraft are evolving into more sophisticated structures, with exotic new materials and stealthy designs. But in all of the advances, what is the implication for overhaul procedures and tooling? Looking at implementation of new technologies employed by the Air Force for the repair of aging F-16's, A-10's, KC-135's and C-130's, we can see how the new fleet of F-35's, F-22's and KC-46's will face certain unexpected challenges that deserve proper review and analysis. One primary concern is the widespread use of composite skins on the wings of fighter planes. There are several key advantages but few manufacturers have understood the complications from repairing these materials. For instance, on the F-16, the horizontal tail is made of carbon fiber riveted to aluminum subsurface. Besides the difficulties in finding the fractures, there are relatively few repair procedures for mitigating these problems like there are in classic sheet metal work. In this presentation, we analyze the most recent advances to address the overhaul concerns arising from composite skins in military aircraft. A cost analysis is presented to show the various reasons why composite skins may cause a headache for the military as the technology of detection and repair tries to catch up to these advanced new materials. Some computations will also be performed to show the reduction in strength over time for carbon fiber composites as compared to 7475 series aluminum. Simulations that focus on the growth of expected cracks that may escape NDI will be presented to show the difference in damage and fatigue life between the two materials and how current inspections will need to be improved to solve this difficult problem.