Kansas City Division Research Articles

Kansas City ‐ flexible manufacturing system

The Kansas City Division of Allied Signal Aerospace operates a flexible manufacturing system which is described. Its components ‐ machining centres, co‐ordinate measuring machines, AGVs and materials handling systems, wash station, central chip and coolant system, systems hardware, control system ‐ are outlined. The process flow activities are described along with the benefits of the system.

Investigation of ultrasonic methods for residual stress measurement in metals : Swanson, G.D. Allied Corporation, Bendix Kansas City Division, Missouri (United States), BDX-613-3685, 18pp. (Feb. 1987)

Investigation of ultrasonic methods for residual stress measurement in metals : Swanson, G.D. Allied Corporation, Bendix Kansas City Division, Missouri (United States), BDX-613-3685, 18pp. (Feb. 1987)

Investigation of materials and bonding using the scanning laser acoustic microscope : Jones, B.A.; Boehning, C.W. Allied-Signal Aerospace Company, Kansas City Division, Kansas City, Missouri, Rep. No. KCP-613–4033, 18 pp. (Dec. 1988)

A method is devised and demonstrated for the detection of disbonds in E-glass-epoxy/end-grain balsa core composites. Guided acoustic waves are exploited in an approach that leads to positive identification of disbonds in these complex marine composites. The method uses the fact that a propagating Lamb wave in the 3-mm glass-epoxy facesheet composite will exist only when a disbond (even a disbond in partial contact) is present at the location of the incident acoustic beam. The resulting leaky wave field in the fluid is then detected and monitored over the scanned area, producing a C-scan of the interface with clear discrimination between bonded areas and disbonds. Numerical evaluations of the received transducer voltage corresponding to different interface conditions are compared with the experimental measurements. A theoretical calculation based on prior work predicts accurately the results of several experiments on a variety of samples with different disbond conditions.

Investigation of ultrasonic methods for residual stress measurement in metals : Swanson, G.D. Allied Corporation, Bendix Kansas City Division, Missouri (United States), BDX-613-3685, 18pp. (Feb. 1987)

Investigation of ultrasonic methods for residual stress measurement in metals : Swanson, G.D. Allied Corporation, Bendix Kansas City Division, Missouri (United States), BDX-613-3685, 18pp. (Feb. 1987)

Development of Nondestructive Pull Test Requirements for Gold Wires on Multilayer Thick-Film Hybrid Microcircuits

Thermosonic wire bonding !s used to attach 1-mil gold wires to muitilayer thick-film hybrid microcircuits manufactured by the Bendix Corporation, Kansas City Division, for the Department of Energy. A study was conducted to develop a realistic nondestructive pull test limit which would detect unacceptable wire bonds and would be compatible with production processes without applying excessive stress to the wires. The effect of environmental testing on wire bond strength was also examined. A 1.5-gf nondestructive pull test limit was incorporated into production which provided an adequate screen for unacceptable bonds without significantly increasing rework time and cost for wire failures. No degradation of wire bond strengths resulted from environmental testing.

Failure Modes of Beam-Lead Semiconductors in Thin-Film Hybrid Microcircuits

Beam-lead semiconductor and passive devices have been utilized in hybrid microcircuits (HMC) to provide higher reliability. This is derived from the beam-lead device's improved bonding integrity plus the silicon nitride coating which reduces sensitivity to contaminants; however, their size requires special handling techniques to prevent handling damage. Other failure modes exist such as cracked nitride, pinholes in the nitride, inadequate plating, and smeared metallization. After two years of production usage totaling approximately 150 000 devices, The Bendix Corporation's Kansas City Division has compiled significant data on beam-lead devices including small-signal and power discrete semiconductors and digital integrated circuits. These failure modes are characterized and precautionary measures are described to minimize failures in HMC usage.

The Reconstruction of Grand River Bridge

The reconstruction of the bridge over Grand River, 3 miles south of Chillicothe, Mo., on the Kansas City Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, by the railway company's Bridge and Building Department, presents several interesting features which will be described by the author, who was the engineer in charge of the work.