NEW CONCEPTS AND INNOVATIONS TO ENHANCE THE COST ESTIMATION OF AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS/SUBSYSTEMS

ABARIS PROPOSES AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO AID THE AVIATION PLANNER AND COST ESTIMATOR IN DEALING WITH THE IMPACT OF NEW MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE FOR THE DESIGN AND SUBSEQUENT MANUFACTURE OF NEW AIRCRAFT. THE NEW ADVANCED COMPOSITES; GRAPHITE AND KEVLAR FIBERS, EPOXY AND BISMALEIMIDE RESINS, ETC., OFFER SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT REDUCTIONS AND OTHER OPERATIONAL ADVANTAGES, BUT REQUIRE DIFFERENT DESIGN APPROACHES AND MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES THAN THE METALS THEY REPLACE. THIS WILL REQUIRE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW CER. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL HAVE APPLICATION TO THE USE OF COST ESTIMATING RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE VARIETY OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL SYSTEMS, STRUCTURAL CONCEPTS, AND MANUFACTURING METHODS USED IN AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION. THE BASIC EXPERT SYSTEM COULD BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL ELEMENTS OF THE AIRCRAFT COST ESTIMATING RELATIONSHIPS ONCE THE BASIC SYSTEM IS DEVELOPED.