Composite Design Tool for Predicting Performance, Reliability and Cost as Integrated Functions

"The commercial sector is developing stronger, lighter, and cheaper materials for use in structural applications. However it needs to be verified that the use of these materials will enhance missile defense systems reliability. Engineers generally do nothave a significant amount of data relative to the reliability of the design until an extensive amount of testing is conducted. Very often, even in the aerospace world, product reliability is not completely understood with certainty until well after theproduct has been put into the field. A convention design method to ensure increased product reliability (without specific knowledge about critical reliability driving design parameters) is to attempt to limit manufacturing imperfections globally byimplementing strict manufacturing tolerances.This SBIR will develop a structural design tool for evaluating novel materials based on usage models considering predicted reliability, performance and manufacturing cost as integrated functions. Using such a tool, designers could assess the real worldeffect of variability on cost effective state-of-the-art materials and concentrate controls on design parameters most likely to drive reliability and performance. As a feasibility test bed, this SBIR will focus on new composite structure manufacturingtechniques being developed by the missile/rocket community that incorporate an integral bonding strategy. This SBIR will development methodology for predict