Latest News January 2024
Welcome to the Frewer Engineering latest news January 2024.
In this issue, we’re diving deeper into the fascinating world of engineering, with a focus on cutting-edge topics such as Cyclo-Symmetric Blade Analysis, Hypersonic vehicle challenges, and the exciting transition in leadership at Frewer Engineering.
Join us as we explore these dynamic subjects and stay updated on our journey of innovation and expertise.
New Leadership at Frewer Engineering
After two successful decades of managing Frewer Engineering, Peter Frewer is handing over the role of Managing Director to Richard Lock, who until the end of 2023 was acting as Projects Director.
Peter will remain involved as Chairman of Frewer Engineering, however day to day operations will now be assured by Richard. When asked about taking on the new role, Richard reflected on his new challenge…
“I already know the passionate, enthusiastic and dedicated team well, having worked closely with them over the last few years and can’t wait to see what we collectively deliver for our customers in the coming years.
My mission: grow Frewer Engineering as a trusted supplier to our ever expanding customer base, whilst maintaining the unique culture that sets us apart as a specialised Design & Analysis consultancy with an appetite for tackling the design challenges others shy away from.
I’m indebted to Peter Frewer for trusting me with this role and thank him in advance for his continued coaching and support in the coming years.”
The restructure and planned continued growth of the company will allow us to broaden our capabilities and better serve our customers. Combined with our continued hiring efforts we aim to deliver an increasing variety of projects, taking advantage of our expanding range of technologies, knowledge, and expertise to meet our clients’ demanding requirements.
Cyclo-Symmetric Blade Analysis
Fan sets experience significant displacements and vibration during running due to high rotational speeds and aerodynamic pressure loading. It is important that these are assessed to ensure accurate lifeing and running symmetry of a fan set.
At Frewer Engineering, we conduct cyclo-symmetric blade analyses in FEA to determine the vibrational mode shapes of blades. This assists in performing un-running analysis, to determine a blade’s unloaded, manufacturing geometry. When run up to their design speed and air conditions, the shape of the aerosurfaces change to provide optimum aerodynamic performance.
Modal analyses are conducted to calculate the fan-set’s resonant frequencies and evaluate blade stresses to ensure sufficient life in the blades. This becomes especially important around blade-root design, where peak-stresses are often observed. This analysis can be used to position strain-gauges at key locations on the blade, to validate FEA results and provide in-service safety measures with regards to blade stresses and lifeing.
Hypersonic Design Challenges & Solutions
High Mach No. and Hypersonic vehicles come with numerous design challenges, whether the vehicles are intended to be reusable, or if they are for one-way flight to deliver a set payload.
The propulsion design challenges are immense, but so are those involved in the design of the airframe. Vehicle structures may be intended to run at high temperature, and maintain their strength using advanced nickel alloys, or the airframe may take advantage of the transient nature of high‑speed flight and be designed to last only as long as needed to complete the journey back to earth. In the latter case we can make use of lightweight composites and ablative coatings which may burn away in transit, providing only just enough protection to last the short duty of the vehicle.
In all cases, well-informed early-stage concept work can save millions of pounds in latter stages of development, for any hyper-sonics programme. Frewer Engineering is well equipped to support in such steering programmes, to ensure a cost-effective and fast roadmap to delivery.
Elevating Aero Engine Development
Combustion testing lies at the core of aero propulsion design and development, for faster, more powerful, and more efficient aero engines, whether for civil or defence applications.
At Frewer Engineering, our CAD and FEA capabilities will always be fully interlinked, such that complex structural design and thermo-structural analysis projects, like combustion test rigs, can be delivered quickly, and in the most cost-efficient manner possible.
Many of the rigs we design run hotter than their own melting temperature, even if advanced nickel alloys and insulating ceramic coatings are used in their design. Critical elements of our rigs are protected by air film-cooling and water-cooling circuits, which are paramount in the overall safety case for our test rigs.
Revolutionizing Aero Engine Blade Analysis
Frewer Engineering is excited to showcase one of our in-house developments: a bespoke software tool for precise aero engine blade analysis. Have a look at our YouTube video below to find out more!
This tool is specifically designed to enhance the analysis of aero engine blades by optimising strain gauge positioning efficiency and ensure accurate health monitoring during testing.
Our tool’s accuracy in identifying modal shapes ensures that strain gauges are strategically placed to capture essential blade dynamics. This capability is crucial for improving engine performance and safety, providing our customers with reliable data for better design and maintenance strategies.
Building on our extensive experience in gas turbine development, this software integrates seamlessly with our suite of modal and rotordynamic analyses. It’s a significant step forward in computational blade life and health assessment, essential for optimal instrumentation in test rigs.
This development reaffirms Frewer Engineering’s commitment to pioneering solutions in aerospace engineering, offering our clients innovative, efficient, and accurate analysis tools.
Steel Structure Design Expertise at Frewer Engineering
Frewer Engineering has a long-established history of working with large steel structures, delivering design activities across the whole life cycle (concepts through to detailed manufacturing drawings), all simultaneously underpinned by our world-class analysis capability to ensure solutions meet the customer’s required load cases, adherence with applicable codes as well as domain-centric standards.
The requirements for steel structures come from a broad range of customers, such as pylons for gas turbine development (shown), plinths in the marine sector or support frames for R&D test stands. Irrespective of end use, our customers work with Frewer Engineering confident in the knowledge that we understand how to design, analyse, and where required, optimise these structures to meet their exacting standards and in some cases, challenging load cases and codes.
If you find yourself requiring support with structural steel design and / or analysis activities please contact us, and we promise to provide a tailored, agile response commensurate with your needs.
Streamlined Composite Laminate Design at Frewer Engineering
Frewer Engineering continues to expand with our new Autumn 2023 graduate intake made up of Michael Chapman and Joshua Watson.
Michael joins us with an MSc in Aerodynamics and Computation from the University of Southampton, where Michael achieved a Distinction in his MSc thesis, entitled ‘The Effect of Rakes on Diffuser Performance’.
Joshua joins us having graduated with Distinction from the University of Brunel in London. Joshua has extensive project experience of battery thermal management systems for Electric Vehicles, as well as machine learning as applied to fluid dynamics.
