GKN Aerospace plans to renovate the exhaust stack in test cell 7 over the next 20 years. The current cracking in the exhaust pipe causes unplanned downtime and repairs, leading to unwanted financial expenses. Consequently, GKN aims to replace the pipe before renovating the exhaust stack. To explore alternative solutions for the pipe's design and material, with the aim of ensuring availability and improving maintenance-friendliness, GKN is now initiating a conceptual study. 

The concept is developed through a three-step product development process called Design Research Methodology. These steps serve as the foundation for identifying the project's requirements and needs and the types of problems the concepts should address. This process leads to the generation of several concepts, which are then evaluated against each other based on the emerging requirements and needs. Finally, a recommended concept is presented to GKN for further development in a feasibility study. 

The new concept, along with suggested future work, aims to enhance the lifespan and ease of maintenance of the system, thereby ensuring its availability and, ideally, reducing the occurrence of unplanned downtime in the test cell.