Predicting the Implications of New Technologies on Aircraft Structural Mass

This paper presents the results of four case studies of future fighter concepts incorporating new technologies. The introduction of advanced materials, enhanced agility and lower observability are individually assessed relative to an existing design (F-16). All these technologies are then integrated into a single design concept for final assessment.

A newly developed mass prediction model (AMBER) [1] [2] has been used in these studies to estimate structural masses, centers of gravity and pitch inertia. The method employs idealized structural analysis to size the aircraft framework. This allows more accurate predictions in the aircraft conceptual design phase than existing statistically based methods and provides design insights into the aircraft configuration.