A Systems Engineering Approach to Aircraft Design

Abstract

Over the last decades, aircraft have evolved into large‐scale products characterized by an increasing number of complex systems, components, parts, and functionalities. Each of them involves different disciplines and technologies, along with different sets of tools, processes, and methods. Hence, the successful definition, design, and development of an aircraft require a holistic and systematic approach to aircraft design that supports the development of a life cycle balanced system solution that meets customer requirements. The field of systems engineering provides an interdisciplinary structured yet flexible process to help address these aspects. This chapter illustrates systems engineering principles, process, and methods in the context of aircraft design. It first defines the concept of a system and discusses the importance of the life cycle in the creation of competitive and cost effective products. This chapter then introduces systems engineering through a series of definitions and further presents an example of a system engineering process model. Finally, it illustrates the systems engineering process as is implemented in aircraft design.

Which Design Methodologies Are Effective to Support a Capstone Project in Aerospace Design Engineering?

“…There is a plethora of design methodologies [4][5][6]14], so this paper tries to build in the suggestions of systematic engineering by Eder [12,15]. The combination of systematic engineering (systems engineering -SE) with Quality Function Deployment (QFD), and Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is not a new attempt in the design engineering research community [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Environment-based design (EBD) [24,25] is a systematic design methodology under research and development at Concordia University by Professor Yong Zeng.…”

“…EBD has also reported positive research attempts in aircraft design [26,27] and potential integrations with design methodologies such as TRIZ, and axiomatic design [28]. Mavris and Pinon [20], and Price, et al [19] demonstrate that SE exhibits strong similarities with the aircraft design process, as both build on decomposition, synthesis, and verification to achieve successful systems. Considering all those contributions in design methodologies, and the workforce competencies in The rest of the paper is organized as follows.…”

“…SE is defined as an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach that derives, evolves, and verifies a life-cycle balanced system solution [19,31]. Based on Mavris and Pinon [20], the purpose of SE is to transform needs and requirements into a description of system configuration (e.g., airframe system composed of subsystems such as empennage, fuselage, wings, and landing gear) and ensure that the developed system addresses the specified cost, schedule, and performance objectives. In the model of SE by Mavris and Pinon, the life cycle covers from identifying a need to phase out and disposal of the systems.…”

“…In the scope of the life cycle, the suggested processes are: 1) requirements analysis (aka problem definition), 2) functional analysis, 3) design synthesis, 4) repetition of the previous 1-3 processes in preliminary and detailed design, and 5) supporting processes such as project management. To represent the interactions between these processes, a variety of life cycle models have been proposed such as the Vee, Waterfall, Spiral, and the US Department of Defense [20]. The entire SE process is performed many times during the design and development process, with the output of each application being recursively verified and validated against requirements and specifications, and further used as input to the following application [20].…”

“…To represent the interactions between these processes, a variety of life cycle models have been proposed such as the Vee, Waterfall, Spiral, and the US Department of Defense [20]. The entire SE process is performed many times during the design and development process, with the output of each application being recursively verified and validated against requirements and specifications, and further used as input to the following application [20]. Each of the processes in the models requires the use of specific methods, tools, and KSA.…”