Smart materials and structures for future aircraft engines

All aspects of the Department of Defense Science and Technology (DoD ST ultimately leading to improved warfighter readiness with reduced sustainment costs. FROM fflPTET TO VAATE For several years, the driving force in military gas turbine engine development has been the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (fflPTET) Program. ThelHPTET program is a joint government and industry effort focused on developing technologies for more affordable, more robust, higher performance turbine engines for current and future aircraft and missile systems. The overarching goal of the program is to double aircraft and missile propulsion performance, thrust to weight, while decreasing manufacturing and maintenance cost by 35% by 2003. As the fflPTET program nears completion, a new initiative to address the current needs of the Department of Defense (DOD) is being developed. There are a number of needs which must be addressed. These include expanding the altitude and Mach number envelope, improving performance and fuel efficiency, and reducing the cost of ownership. In general, all these aspects represent robust and affordable propulsion systems. It is clear that affordability has become a number one concern to the DOD. fflPTET has been working on affordability by providing for revolutionary new engine capability and has increased its focus on affordability over the years because of recent engine maintenance problems and cost issues. Additionally, The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is an example of a modern program which 1 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (c)2002 American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics or Published with Permission of Author(s) and/or Author(s)' Sponsoring Organization. has opted for versatile, multi-use engine hardware as an avenue to reduce cost. What is needed for the future is a truly revolutionary technology development approach focused on engine affordability. In order to develop a robust technology development plan, several questions must be answered. First, what are you trying to do? This means to identify specifically what are the goals of the program. The goals should be challenging, yet provide a reasonable opportunity for success. Additionally, there must be a method to measure your progress. The second question to be addressed is when do you need to complete the program. What is the pace necessary to support the warfighter, industry, and other advocates for your technology? Third, what difference will achievement of the goals make to your community? Aircraft payoffs due to the new technology need to be quantified. With an eye on technology transition, the payoffs need to be identified for both the military and commercial market. And finally, what makes you believe that the goals are achievable? From a technical standpoint, this means developing a link between the Goals, Objectives, Technical Challenges, and Approaches, or as we refer to it as "the GOTChA Process". From a financial standpoint, defining clear roadmaps with budgets is an essential element of planning for success. Answering these four questions can be quite challenging, especially when looking out 15 years, but when complete, a very comprehensive plan appears. By working through "the GOTCha Process" an initiative developed to address affbrdability of propulsion systems has emerged. With the overarching goal of increasing the affordability of propulsion systems by lOx, the Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engine (VAATE) initiative was born. VAATE AND ITS FOCUS AREAS What does focussing on affordability mean to the propulsion community? In general, affordability is described as capability divided by cost. A metric was developed to relate this concept specifically to propulsion. We have defined this metric as thmst-to-weight divided by the product of cost and specific fuel consumption, Equation 1. Cost is calculated as the sum of the development, production, and maintenance cost over the life cycle of the engine. ASS j L 1 r j Capability Weight Affordabihtylndex = —-——— ——-— Cost Cost