AIAA Team Aircraft Design Competition 2009-2010
Introductory Lectures on Aerospace Design Oct. 16th, 2009
University of Southern California
Sina Golshany
Lecture-1 Aircraft Design Methodology & Management with Remarks on Historic Backgrounds
Aircraft Design Methodology
– Methodology: • A set of flexible guidelines and methods to reach at an objective which is creative in nature. Usually intended for cases were multiple correct answers exist. (i.e. a flexible doctrine) • Generally, it may include: – Methods for tasking & logical Analysis of a problem (i.e. sensitivity to change in a particular variable) – Methods to formulate (define variables) for the problem – Methods to identify critical design variables – Methods to solve for the critical design variables – Methods to make this all work simultaneously – Methods to get the most optimum solution for all critical variables simultaneously.
Aircraft Design Generalities – It highly depends on the directions chosen by the premier designer. – Lead designers often modify basic textbook design methodologies to emphasize a certain aspect of a configuration or achieve a particular quality in their design. – The process of design, is considered highly repetitive – Alternative concepts are explored quite rigorously – Many describe the process as a marathon – Feedback cycles & their role in optimizing a selected configuration – Multiple correct answers to one problem DO exists. – Devil lies in the details
Multiple correct answers to the same question: – YF-16 & YF-17 Projects
Multiple correct answers to the same question: – YF-16 & YF-17 Projects – Same requirements – Same competition – Two significantly different answers
-Both work great -Both ended in designs that went into service
The Devil is in the Details!
- The VFX RFP response ran to a massive 37 volume proposal occupying 54 binders and a real size prototype. - First flight was achieved in almost 2 years (July’68-Dec’70) - They sure got something to smile about!
The Devil is in the Details!
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Douglass Design Facility in El-Segundo Almost all are capable draftsman as well as engineers Lithographic techniques for drafting Mechanical computers (YF-12 Project Utilization)
A Brief History of Lead Designers & Their Chosen Methodology
Clarence “Kelly” Johnson
(1910-1990) Lockheed Martin Corporation Skunk Works Division, Lockheed Commercial Airplane
– First Director of Skunk Works – Arguably the most successful designer of all times. – Some of the most controversial and successful aircrafts ever. – Multiple Collier Trophy Winner.
Clarence “Kelly” Johnson
(1910-1990) Lockheed Martin Corporation Skunk Works Division, Lockheed Commercial Airplane
Clarence Kelly Johnson
(1910-1990) Lockheed Martin Corporation Skunk Works Division, Lockheed Commercial Airplane
– Be quick, be quite, be on-time. – Believed in aircraft performance obtained at a great cost. – Believed in creative solutions Could not bare the ideas of next generation (Ben Rich and F-117) – His 14 (or 15) Rules of Project Management – Highly Individualistic Designer: – ‘The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems)’
Clarence Kelly Johnson
(1910-1990) Lockheed Martin Corporation Skunk Work Division, Lockheed Commercial Airplane
– Appreciated esthetic value of aircrafts as a sales strategy (Lockheed Constellation as an example)
Ben R. Rich
(1925-1995) Lockheed Martin Corporation Skunk Works Division, Lockheed Commercial Airplane
– Graduated from UC Berkley – specializing in both: "aeronautical engineering and dating sorority girls!“ – Second Director of Skunk Works (Father of Stealth technology) – Directed the F-117, F-22 , and many still classified projects – Argued to have been involved with project Aurora (?) ->
Ben R. Rich
(1925-1995) Lockheed Martin Corporation Skunk Works Division, Lockheed Commercial Airplane
Edward Henry Heinemann
(1908-1991) Douglass Aircraft Corporation, later General Dynamics
– Self-trained chief designer – Went to Manual Arts high school in Los Angeles – Classmate with Jimmy Doolittle – Designed his first aircraft when he was 23 – Designed some of the most successful naval aircraft ever – Collier Trophy winner.
Edward Henry Heinemann
(1908-1991) Douglass Aircraft Corporation, later General Dynamics
-Heinemann’s Scooter, A-4 skyhawk (introduced 1954)
Edward Henry Heinemann
(1908-1991) Douglass Aircraft Corporation, later General Dynamics
Edward Henry Heinemann
(1908-1991) Douglass Aircraft Corporation, later General Dynamics
– Highly individualized (A-4 Skyhawk design over Christmas) – Highly focused on disciplines, but mostly regarding the ideas of a configuration teams: – ‘Respect the specialists -- those who are masters of a particular phase of an operation. But be wary of allowing them to make big decisions’ – ‘Avoid paralysis by analysis’ – Considerable consideration for power plant selection: – ‘Select the best engine, build your aircraft around it’ – Significant attention should be paid to weight engineering and weight optimization
European School of Aircraft Design – In contrast to Heinemann's way, it offers VERY complex solutions to aeronautical problems – Replacing creativity with complexity – It concentrates on individualist way too much (aimed at cutting development cost) – It commits too many mistakes during the development project, causing significant delays, and horrible cost increases – Products are often time over priced. – They take advantage of the limitations placed on sales to foreign nations by American aviation industry. – Pioneers often end working as consultants to U.S. design firms (Hans Ulrich Rudel & Fairchild Aircraft Company)
Predominant Methodologies in the U.S. – Roskam’s Methodology: Well defined & flexible
Hierarchical Elimination:
Management & Engineering Organization – Role & Significance in Multi Disciplinary Design
Intelligence & Competitive Analysis
-Open Source Intelligence -Competitive Analysis -Provides insight in to the direction of market & competitors -Methods of operation -It is a business practice, regardless of the field. -It is ethically justified
Management -What is the significance & role of a design management strategy? -It is usually done in teams to represent the elements of each influenced design discipline. -Questions to be answered by Management Specialists: -Task Orders & Schedules -Resource Allocation (Human & Financial) -Critical Issues to be Addressed: -Trade Studies (what to change?) (alternatives?) -Optimizations (what to optimize) -Planning & Tracking Tasks -Optimization of task’s breakdown & their interactions with each other (DSM as an example)
Design Structure Matrix (DSM) – Developed partly by Dr. Steven D. Eppinger from MIT Sloan School of Management. – Among many other contributors back in the 70’s. – Created in response to industry needs. – Used heavily by the industry. – It is recently introduced in the field of Aircraft Design. – It is shown to reduce the development time and cost.
Design Structure Matrix (DSM) – Publically available case studies – All have shown improvement in the development cycle
Different Development Stages:
– RTD Phasing Chart. – We will be dealing with T and mostly D phases.
IDEF Flow Charts – DSM is used as an information exchange model, as an alternative to IDEF flow charts:
Design Structure Matrix (DSM) – Basis for defining the DSM matrix:
Grouping and tearing in (DSM) – To enhance the cooperation between teams/disciplines: – Breaking teams to sub-teams is good practice, as long as it doesn’t lead to something unmanageable:
– Can be combined with numerical algorithms . . . – More on PSM-32 later.
Notes on DSM: – Size of the Design Structure Matrix defines the level of details to be looked at as independent disciplines. – This means an oversized DSM can be exceedingly hard to manage in reality and a too small DSM can’t encapsulate all the required tasks and disciplines for a project. – No easy, rigorous way of selecting the DSM size – Done based on experiment, and multi disciplinary knowledge – Roles for successes: – Case studies mater a great deal – General knowledge about aircraft design methodology matters even more.
Case Study-1:
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, UAV Development
Case Study-2: Aquila VLJ trainer DSM strategy
Case Study-3:
Tranquillus 150 Pax midsize jetliner
Request for Proposal 2009-2010 • “Advanced, Environmentally Compatible Commercial Transport to use alternative fuels” -162 passengers (dual class) -Range: US transcontinental -Significant improvements in fuel burn (with associated CO2 reduction). -Use of alternative fuels, potentially bio fuels -No particular Noise Requirements -Improved passenger comfort -Reduced DOC and acquirement costs
Questions?
Tasks for today:
1-Constructing a DSM for our project 2-Constructing a Gant schedule for the project
Task:
1-Constructing a DSM for our project
Using the PSM32 software Based on 2008-2009 DSM
Task:
2-Constructing a Gant Schedule
Using Microsoft Visio provided the items in the DSM
Thank You !