FIGURE D-1. PERFORMANCE PAYOFF OF A NOTIONAL COMBAT UA UTILIZING TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE JETEC PHASE III GOALS.
Reducing production and development costs may be the most critical effort for UA engine designers. These reductions can be achieved through various means such as advancements in manufacturing
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techniques, unique component designs, and multi-use applicability. Advanced manufacturing techniques can greatly reduce tooling cost and fabrication time. For example, resin-transfer molding for outer mold casing components can reduce production cost up to 40% over conventional lay-up techniques. JETEC is pursuing this and several other fabrication concepts including gang milling, high-speed milling, bonded castings, bonded disks, metal-injected moldings and inertial welding.
Unique component designs must be pursued to allow UA engines to provide a high level of sophistication while minimizing cost. Since part count is a major determinant of production cost, design features such as drum turbo-machinery, slinger combustors, threaded casings, and integral blisks can reduce part count by an order of magnitude. Low cost seals such as brush and finger designs have shown great promise for replacing large, expensive labyrinth-type seals.
FIGURE D-2. JETEC COST GOAL IN COMPARISON TO EXISTING SYSTEMS.
Development costs can inhibit a buyer from pursing a new engine design. This leaves only off-the-shelf systems that typically have less than optimal performance and/or cost for UA. These penalties can come in the form of increased maintenance, decreased range or speed, increased production costs, or decreased low observable (LO). To counter this and minimize development costs, industry must examine multi-use concepts where a common-core can be incorporated into UA and commercial propulsion systems such as general aviation, business jet, and helicopter gas generators. The payoffs are enormous for both communities – decreased cost to the military and increased technology for the civilian sector.
. Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines (VAATE). As currently planned, the DoD/NASA/DOE VAATE initiative is ramping up over the next several years, and will follow and build upon the IHPTET effort. Unlike IHPTET, which focused heavily on performance, VAATE will build upon the technology advances of IHPTET, and concentrate on improving aviation, marine and even ground-power turbine engine affordability, which proponents define as capability divided by cost. VAATE's affordability orientation will look at technologies cutting engine development, production and maintenance costs. The balance of the VAATE affordability improvements will come from performance capabilities--technologies associated with boosting thrust and cutting weight and
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specific fuel consumption. VAATE also emphasizes improvements to installed performance,
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