Analysis of impact of use of composite materials on direct operating costs of airliners

The impact of the use of composite materials on the direct operating cost( DOC) of airliners needs to be evaluated at the preliminary stage of aircraft design. An analysis of the influence of the use of composite materials on aircraft cost and weight was carried out. A revised model for airliner weight and cost estimation was developed. An evaluation method was proposed to quantify the benefits of the use of composite materials in airliner design. A 150-seat airliner was used as a case for study. The impact of the percentage of the use of composite materials on DOC was evaluated for airliner design. The impacts of the fluctuation of aircraft price,fuel price and maintenance cost on DOC were investigated. The results show that the DOC of airliners declines with the increase of the percentage of the use of composite materials. With the increase of fuel prices,application of composite materials in aircraft design can bring remarkable economic benefits as the reduction of the costs of manufacturing and maintenance of the airframe of composite materials can lead to a significant decrease of the DOC of aircrafts of composite materials.