Presented in this paper are the outcomes from the evaluation of a distributed aircraft design environment, based on microservices and cloud computing. The evaluation was performed on a representative airframe-engine optimization case study, including the engine, wing aero-structural geometry, and high-lift devices.The (computational) design process involved multiple distributed design teams and design tools. The latter were implemented with different programming languages and deployed on the Azure cloud service. As a benchmark, the same case study was performed using the traditional email/document-based approach to design collaboration. Compared with the traditional collaboration, the cloudbased approach substantially reduced the time for design iterations between the design teams. This was mainly due to the fast remote access of models/tools on the cloud and automation of data exchange. Also, the exercise indicated that the cloud-based approach is more flexible with regard to orchestrating the computational workflows and optimization studies, while protecting the Intellectual Property (IP) of the collaborating partners.
IntroductionThe design of complex systems such as modern aircraft involves the integration of multiple disciplines (sub-problems), such as aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight control, and so forth. The different disciplines require specialized Modelling and Simulation (M&S) capabilities,