152. A Method for Estimating Optimum Fuselage Structural Weight
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Paper
Abstract
Progressively stringent and specialized aircraft operational requirements, coupled with a quickening of competition within the industry, and between nations, have p1aced an increasing premium on optimum aircraft design during the last decade and foretell even greater emphasis in this regard for the future.
Proper evaluation of the important weight aspects of this optimization requires methods for accurately predicting the minimum practical weight of each component. Methods must be adaptable to a wide range of configurations, functional requirements and environmental conditions, and must permit evaluation of the effects of specific changes in the significant design considerations. If in addition, effective weight control is to be established so that the optimum weight is in fact achieved, estimating methods must further indicate the internal design arrangements which will produce minimum weight, and furnish a breakdown of optimum weight which can be converted to workable design target weights.
The method for estimating the weight of optimum fuselage structure presented in this paper has been developed, with these general objectives, for specific application during the final stages of preliminary design. Adaptability to the optimization of structural arrangement within relatively fixed external contours and to the derivation of workable design target weights has, accordingly, been emphasized. The analysis procedure is based on information normally obtainable during the latter stages of preliminary design.
