Cost/Time Analysis for Theoretical Aircraft Production

Abstract

With the growing emphasis on affordability in aerospace systems design for future aircraft, there is a need for new techniques to predict accurate system and life cycle costs (LCCs). The prediction methods must be capable of quantifying cost differences resulting from material and manufacturing process alternatives. Existing cost models are primarily weight based. While these models have been used successfully for predicting the costs of conventional aircraft, they are not sufe cient for many modern or future aircraft that are produced using advanced manufacturing processes and materials. A high-e delity production cost model was developed and presented that accepts data from multiple levels of product design analysis. The use of cost/time analysis (CTA) for aircraft production is demonstrated for the evaluation of production alternatives. The production-cost model and CTA techniques are included in a LCC simulation. Numerical results are presented for a CTA evaluation of advanced wing structural concepts for a supersonic transport.