Crafting edge profiles in the aerospace industry: an occupational biomechanics evaluation

Describes a biomechanical assessment pertaining to the manual workmanship associated with the construct of airfoil edge geometry for Pratt & Whitney's Hollow Fan Blade. The results based on observation reveal that through the redesign of handheld scraping tools, the implementation of composite shell burring guns and the reduction of operator frequency, musculoskeletal pain would be dramatically reduced. Empirical methods of evaluation with respect to kinematics and kinetics are discussed and proposed for further analysis.