Cost Estimating Techniques for Advanced Technology Engines 700271

Throughout the turbojet and turbofan engine development years of the 1950s and 1960s, performance demands on the engine manufacturer necessitated ever-increasing technology advancement to satisfy these demands. In pursuit of the advancing technology, lighter, stronger and more exotic materials were developed but not without substantial increases in the unit engine cost. This paper analyzes the impact of the material and performance technologies over the past two decades. By applying the rationale that the type and amount of raw material inputed for manufacture of an engine contribute, at least in significant part to its cost, correlations between engine cost and a factor defining a weighted material content were discovered. Investigations of other physical, thermodynamic, and metallurgical engine characteristics are discussed to provide a costing method to predict future production engine costs.