Cost optimising aircraft systems at a conceptual design stage
by Oliver Houseman, Rajkumar Roy, Charles Wainwright, Evaggelos Lavdas
International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management (IJMTM), Vol. 15, No. 3/4, 2008

Abstract: This paper describes a project undertaken with industry to develop a software tool that automates the configuration of conceptual aircraft systems so that their costs can be estimated. The development of accurate cost estimates at the conceptual design stage helps identify ways to reduce costs throughout a project's life cycle. A case study on the Hydraulics system is used to demonstrate a novel methodology for capturing and representing the design rules. The developed prototype requires Top Level Definition (TLD's) of the proposed new aircraft design and then uses the captured design rules together with rationalised judgements to calculate the architecture and a pseudo Bill of Materials (BOM) for a conceptual system. Subsequently the generated system is costed using a commercial cost estimating software. The piping cost and its installation is calculated within the tool and added to the output from the commercial software. This tool allows different configurations to be compared so that a conceptual system can be optimised with regard to cost.

Online publication date: Sat, 06-Sep-2008

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management (IJMTM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com