1661. Weight Assessment of Electronic Boxes

Paper

Abstract

Prediction and assessment of weights of electronic boxes on a new aircraft are enigmas for aerospace avionics designers and weight engineers. Confidence in box level weight is important for several reasons. Airframe designers must know the maximum weight of each electronic box to be able to provide adequate support structure. System engineers must be confident in the total system weight to evaluate system performance. In addition, cost and weight are often dependent such that an increase in weight will be accompanied by an increase in cost, and all too often the initial weights of electronic boxes are underestimated.
This paper does not provide a solution to this problem. It does not provide universal empirical weight relationships to performance parameters. Nor does it describe unique or clever circuit or packaging designs that result in phenomenal weight reductions. It does provide a statistical basis for evaluating weights or electronic boxes, at various times throughout program development, using simple parameters which are universally available. In other words, it provides substantiation for what has usually been ‘a gut feel based on experience.’