Assessing the Simultaneous Impacts of Requirements, Vehicle Characteristics, and Technologies During Aircraft Design

Abstract

It is clear that the most fundamental issue for the aircraft designer in the early definition phases of the design process is the effect that requirements have on the system. Requirements drive initial design studies, procurement decisions, and ultimately operational effectiveness and cost. However, it is often the case that the impact of changes and/or ambiguity in requirements is usually not well understood since the relationships between requirements, technologies, and the design space is not adequately quantified. Increasingly, the decisions made early in the design time line involve the choice of new technologies or combinations of new technologies that will ensure the system meets customer requirements. Providing the designer /decision-maker with knowledge of these relationships enhances the viable, robust solution for the customer. In this paper, the authors will present a method which yields a tradeoff environment that allows the simultaneous assessment of technologies, requirements and vehicle characteristics referred to here as the Unified Tradeoff Environment (UTE). The creation of this environment is described along with the tools for its implementation. In addition, a more detailed explanation of the mission requirement space is presented including anticipated uses beyond those associated with the UTE. This environment is illustrated using the Future Transport Rotorcraft as a baseline vehicle. This vehicle epitomizes the new designs, which will rely on technology insertion to meet ambiguous continually evolving requirements.