REDUCING THE RISK OF INNOVATIVE DESIGNS TO ASSESS AFFORDABILITY

摘要

In today's economic environment, military as well as commercial helicopter buyers are seeking rotorcraft with improved performancernat lower life-cycle cost. The commercial operator must meet new demands in performance and maintain a competitivernposture, which dictates low procurement and operational costs. Also, the military must secure an adequate mobile forcernwith acceptable performance while facing shrinking budgets. To meet these and other rotorcraft goals, the rotorcraft manufacturerrnmust rely on emerging or revamped technologies to yield innovative design approaches, materials, and manufacturingrnprocesses that provide affordable, high-performance rotorcraft with reduced maintenance. However, once candidaterntechnologies have been identified, it is a formidable challenge to make accurate assessments in order to select the optimumrnsolution. Many structure technologies being considered today have demonstrated affordability in the marine, transportation,rnor other sectors, but are unproven for aerospace applications. Tools such as process simulation and cost models provide datarnto make the selection; but until detail design and manufacturing activities are begun, the limitations, risks, and costs of thesernemerging technologies cannot be fully defined. This paper describes risk-reduction activities that were undertaken to supplementrntrade studies in order to more accurately assess the affordability of RTM, RFI, and pultrusion processes for applicationrnto rotorcraft structural components. Activities described include design support tests and studies conducted for an RTMrnhorizontal stabilizer, a pultruded rotor spar, and RTM tail rotor components. Panel and subelement level components werernmanufactured to assess laminate strength, quality, and producibility. A summary of trade study results and descriptions ofrnthe low-cost composite parts selected for manufacture are then described.