Currently the engine companies have no reliable means for estimating and projecting the cost of the High Speed Civil Transport(HSCT) propulsion system. While HSCT development efforts concentrate on performance of component demonstrators and slave hardware made from conventional materials affordability and producibility issues have yet to be addressed. Studies conducted by NASA and industry between 1987 and 1989 (ref. 1 & 2) indicated that a substantial market for HSCT exists early in the next century provided the plane is environmentally friendly and the fare premium over a subsonic does not exceed 20%. The latter depends, to a significant extent on acquisition affordability. In order to get a handle on affordability, a tool that could provide the design community a quick way of assessing cost and evaluating impact of design changes on cost is highly desired. An endorsement of this effort by the GEAE-HSCT Project Office (p.22) and allowing a link-up with the engine team underscores the importance of this innovation. Due to the presence of new materials, unique manufacturing processes, and challenging applications whose economics has not been modeled before, this program will be breaking new ground. In addition, manufacturing process oriented approach captures opportunities for cost reduction/avoidance, an imperative for targeting affordability.
Potential Commercial Applications:The HSCT Engine Cost Assessment Program will result in an enabling technology for the HSCT propulsion system permitting the design community to view cost as a variable during numerous design studies.This technology will quickly find home with the OEMs and have a favorable impact on affordability of the HSCT propulsion system. Phase I (conducted in close collaboration with the engine team) will demonstrate the concept of a user- friendly system, that can estimate cost by inputting physical parameters, normally available in the early phases of product development. In Phase II, we envision development of a stand-alone system for use by the HSCT engine OEMs and technology vendors. In Phase III, two products are to be targeted: Adapating this system for use by the turbine industry (code named CAC-Computer Aided Costing), and a second product to be integrated with CAD systems like Unigraphics, Auto Desk, Parametric Tech, etc. (code named C3AD-Cost Conscious Computer Aided Design) therby pushing the state of the art of design technology to a new frontier.
