Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-95). / This thesis demonstrates that the use of platform design for medium lift helicopters can provide opportunities for reduced time to market and faster return to service of helicopters through faster design generation and reduced planning requirements. Through historical review of the S70 helicopter and the derivatives oft he basic model this thesis demonstrates that platform design methodologies address and minimize many of the difficulties associated with both the manufacture and post-deployment modification of the basic vehicle. Platform designing is used in a large number of industries with the rotorcraft industry being an exception. Point designs to specific customer requirements have been the historical norm. Given the high non-recurring costs associated with the development and certification of new aircraft systems, there remains a tendency in the rotorcraft industry to prolong the timeframe in which a specific aircraft continues to be manufactured by a particular supplier. Furthermore, after these aircraft are fielded they tend to have useful lives that could exceed thirty years and in many cases long after the circumstances for the original requirement have been removed. Also, the embedded technologies within the aircraft continue to evolve after the aircraft is fielded. Changing requirements and roles sometime require that these newer technologies be incorporated into the aircraft. Due to the high value of these already fielded aircraft there is a tendency of the operators to modify the fielded aircraft to adapt to the new mission and role as opposed to procuring newer a aircraft with the newer technologies already installed. This thesis concludes that through an understanding of the architecture of the air vehicle coupled with an assessment of the likely sections of that architecture that will change the enterprise is better positioned to respond to customer requirements with lower development investment. This thesis provides a review of the architecture of the S70A with particular attention to the instrument panel and allows for demonstration of protocols of platform designing. Various perspectives for assessing the architecture and maintaining the flexibility of the architecture are provided in the platform design context using the S70A helicopter as the central figure with the goal of providing a case study for reference during development of the next medium lift helicopter. / by Christopher Edward Holmes. / S.M.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/29148 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Holmes, Christopher Edward, 1963- |
| Contributors | Daniel Frey., System Design and Management Program., System Design and Management Program. |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 105 leaves, 7411121 bytes, 7410882 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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