THE DESIGN AND ENGINEERING ENGINE. TOWARDS A MODULAR SYSTEM FOR COLLABORATIVE AIRCRAFT DESIGN

摘要

This paper describes the architecture of the Design and Engineering Engine (DEE), a modular, loosely integrated software system able to support conceptual and multidisciplinary design optimization of both conventional and novel aircraft configurations. In particular, it elaborates on the functionalities and the current state of development of two key components, namely the Initiator and the Multi Model Generator. The first module is responsible for the aircraft conceptual design process, but makes use of Knowledge Based Engineering and optimization techniques to overcome the limits of classic textbook methods, particularly when dealing with novel configurations. The Multi Model Generator (MMG) is a Knowledge Based Engineering application that, starting from the set of design parameter values generated by the Initiator, can automatically generate the geometry model of many different aircraft configurations, plus the relative abstractions required to use a distributed and heterogeneous set of analysis tools, commercial and proprietary, high and low fidelity. The modular and open architecture of the DEE provides scalability and adaptability to different design problems. In particular, the MMG can be used to feed analysis tools provided by external parties and located on geographically non collocated machines, thereby enabling truly distributed and collaborative design.