The leading airframe producers in the United States are engaged in a major cooperative effort to develop software to reduce the cost of composite manufacturing. The Composites Affordability Initiative (CAI) is a cooperative effort between government and industry to reduce the cost of aerospace composite structures so that design engineers can take full advantage of their unique benefits. A major obstacle identified by the group is that designers in the early concept stage, when most important decisions are made, have no way to determine the impact of their choices on program cost.

CAI member companies are far along in the development of a software package, based on a commercial design for manufacturing (DFM) tool* that gives designers a method for evaluating the cost of alternate composite materials and manufacturing processes in minutes. It is believed that giving engineers the ability to select the most affordable materials and processes early in the design process will have a major impact on making composites more affordable. CAI members include representatives from Lockheed Martin at Fort Worth, Northrop Grumman at El Segundo, Boeing Phantom Works at St. Louis and Seattle, General Electric Co. Engine Division in Cincinnati, as well as representatives from the U.S. Air Force Materials Lab at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio and the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center from Patuxuet River, MD.

The CAI is based on the idea that the key to significant cost reductions in composite aerospace structures is to further develop "composites friendly" designs, simulation tools, and material and manufacturing processes, enabling the design team to take advantage of composites' unique attributes. The tools and technology necessary to provide integrated product teams with improved methods for designing composite airframes are being developed under the program. The final goal of the program will be to develop revolutionary design techniques, innovative manufacturing concepts, materials and processes, advanced simulation and modeling tools, and advanced business practices to enable breakthrough reductions in cost, schedule and weight. Initially, the focus will be on manned fixed wing strike fighter aircraft structural applications, but the technologies validated will be applicable to all classes of aerospace structures from Ground Vehicles to Spacecraft.

Making Smart Decisions Early

Before the CAI Team was formed, a team of Boeing Company Phantom Works engineers, including Falque, were originally assigned to produce and validate a proof of concept Boeing Proprietary cost tool. About 4,000 of the company's top engineers and scientists comprise Phantom Works. This staff typically works in small, integrated teams that can be quickly formed and mobilized to help customers meet their toughest technical challenges. When the CAI Cost Team was formed the first task was to set-up the requirements and a selection process for the CAI cost tool. During this process all of the CAI team member companies brought cost model candidates for review by the CAI Team.

The Boeing Company brought its costing concept to the CAI Cost Team, which reviewed it, realized its potential and accepted it as one of CAI's costing concepts. The CAI Cost team then looked at commercial applications and found DFM software packages and determined that, while several addressed composite manufacturing, none comprehensively addressed the latest composite manufacturing processes. This was understandable since most of these processes are proprietary to the major airframe suppliers which were involved in the CAI. Not wanting to start from scratch, the team considered customizing one of these packages to incorporate the latest composite manufacturing techniques to a very high level of detail.

Selecting a Tool

The CAI Team decided to base their development efforts on the DFM software package from Galorath because it provides a powerful framework for estimation and analysis while offering a unique capability of accepting custom cost models as plug-ins. Another reason for selecting this software for customization was the off-the-shelf version of the tool already had powerful composite manufacturing cost estimation capabilities in addition to traditional metalworking processes such as machining, sheet metal fabrication and assembly.

This facilitates quick trade-offs between traditional metalworking processes and newer advanced composite processes. CAI Team engineers were also attracted to the DFM software's four-quadrant user interface, which allows even the most complex estimates to be portrayed in an accessible manner. The Work Element breakdown for the estimate is found in the upper right quadrant of the desktop. The parameter view, found in the upper right quadrant, contains detailed parameter entries that the user can modify for each estimating element to obtain the most accurate possible estimates. The user can select a wide variety of reports to display in the lower left quadrant, each of which is instantly updated when the estimate is modified. Finally, charts can be displayed in the lower right quadrant that provide graphical insight into the results of the estimate.

Customization Process

Each of the engineering teams created models that define the costs of their manufacturing processes, in the form of spreadsheets in most cases, and supplied them to a Galorath team. As each model was completed, the team encapsulated it in a plug-in, taking advantage of the software architecture that provides the framework to easily integrate custom models. Each plug-in is built as a separate executable, in the form of a direct library link (DLL) that carries a database with process information. The use of a discrete database containing all values used to define the cost of the process, such as dollars per pound for various materials or minutes per square inch, makes it easy to update the model to account for price changes or process improvements. This makes it possible for engineers from the different companies involved in the project to easily accommodate their own company's internal standards.

Initial Results

The CAI Plug-in has about 25 process models and there are another 25 or so models to go. CAI team member engineers have tested the early models and given them glowing reviews. The long-term goal is to integrate the cost estimation model with the CAD packages used by CAI team members, which will make it possible for the engineers to work at a CAD screen, create their model and the DFM software program will automatically provide the cost. In the overall CAI scheme, the DFM software is viewed as the cost engine for a constellation of models that will tie the cost communities of the various companies together. The final goal will be to build a total life cycle model that will incorporate all of the expenses involved in building, operating, maintaining and disposing of a particular composite structure.

References
SEER-DFM(tm) from Galorath Incorporated, El Segundo, CA.