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Building Block Approach

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Edwin Bogonko
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11 views4 pages

Building Block Approach

Uploaded by

Edwin Bogonko
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Building Block Approach

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Number and Name

Professor’s Name

Date
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Building Block Approach

The advanced Composite Technology (ACT) program was initiated by NASA in

collaboration with the aviation industry to make aircraft more reliable, durable, and affordable.

Before the project, the sector had economic, technical, certification, and manufacturing barriers

(Rouse et al., 2005). The plan was to reduce manufacturing costs by 25%, reduce the structural

weight by 50%, ensure the structure failed predictably, Meet the FAA certification requirement,

and ensure the aircraft’s repair protocols were acceptable to the airlines. It is aimed at using

composite materials which are cheaper, stronger, and more durable (Rouse et al., 2005). The

project employed Building Block Approach, which divided it into three phases (A, B, and C) to

enhance its success.

Phase A, which was referred to as technology innovation, focused on developing

manufacturing processes such as fiber insertion, resin transfer molding, and stitching technology.

The companies that were awarded the contracts include Boeing, Lockheed Aeronautical systems,

Dow chemicals, Rockwell International, Grumman, Hercules, and McDonnell Douglas. The

research was conducted by the university of Utah, California-Davis, and Delaware (Rouse et al.,

2005). According to the building block strategy, the initial phase consists of preliminary research

and characterization. The composite material to be used were characterized in terms of their

mechanical properties to predict their behavior when loaded. Phase B, also known as technology

development, focused on the size and complexity of the structure. The plane structures were

divided into smaller sections like fuselage, wings, etc., for specification in the testing. The last

phase (C) was narrowed down to technology verification. The materials underwent different tests

to ascertain their loading capacity to be certified for safety. Each stage was crucial for the

accomplishment of the subsequent phase. These first contracts contributed to the development of
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fundamental technologies and knowledge of materials properties and structural behavior. The

concept of building blocks was crucial to the program’s success as it laid a clear roadmap for

research, development, and certification of aircraft materials.


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References

Rouse, M., Jegley, D., McGowan, D., Bush, H., & Waters, W. (2005, January). Utilization of the

building-block approach in structural mechanics research. 46th

AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference,

p. 1874. http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/6.2005-1874

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