Knowledge-Based Engineering Approach to Support Aircraft Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization

Rocca, Gianfranco La; Tooren, M.J.L. Van

doi:10.2514/1.39028

Cited by 58 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Boeing Phantom Works' scientists [6,30] estimate that MDO can offer 8-10% gains for innovative aircraft design and even 40-50% gains for designing radically new and undeveloped concepts [17]. Despite the high potential gains, MDO is not as widely used as one would expect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Graph-based algorithms and data-driven documents for formulation and visualization of large MDO systems

et al. 2018

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A new system is presented that enables the visualization of large multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) problems and their solution strategy. It was developed within the scope of the European project AGILE. In AGILE, collaborative MDO is performed in large, heterogeneous teams of experts by solving MDO problems using a collection of design and analysis tools. This paper focuses on the visualizations required to support the formulation phase of an MDO project. The Knowledge and graph-based AGILE Design for Multidisciplinary Optimization System (KADMOS), an open-source MDO support system developed by Delft University of Technology, uses graph-based analysis to formulate an MDO problem and its solution strategy, based on the disciplinary analyses available in a repository. The results of KADMOS are stored in the standardized format CMDOWS (Common MDO Workflow Schema), which comprises the entire information on an MDO system. Although, based on Extensible Markup Language, the readability of the CMDOWS file is quite poor also for MDO experts, especially for large MDO systems involving thousands of variables. Providing visualization capabilities to thoroughly inspect the outcome of the different MDO formulation steps becomes a key factor to enable the specification of large MDO systems in a heterogeneous team. Therefore, VISTOMS (VISualization TOol for MDO Systems), a dynamic visualization package, was developed by RWTH Aachen University to enable the visualization and inspection of the different MDO system specification steps, thereby removing one of the main hurdles for using MDO as a development process. The developed visualization capabilities are demonstrated by means of an aerostructural wing design optimization project. Keywords MDO · Visualization · KADMOS · CMDOWS · VISTOMS Abbreviations

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Graph-based algorithms and data-driven documents for formulation and visualization of large MDO systems

et al. 2018

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“…... INTEGER entities imported (9) $$ number of patran entities imported by type INTEGER N skin parts $$ total number of skin parts INTEGER N spar parts $$ total number of spar parts INTEGER N rib parts $$ total number of rib parts ugi import iges v5("C:\skin.igs", 0,"default group",...,entities imported) N skin parts=entities imported(3) $$ "3" for entity type: surface ugi import iges v5("C:\spars.igs", 0,"default group",...,entities imported) N spar parts=entities imported (3) ugi import iges v5("C:\ribs.igs", 0,"default group",...,entities imported) N rib parts=entities imported (3) In addition to the total number of spar parts and ribs parts, it is necessary to determine the number of ribs and spars in the model, noted R and S, respectively. This can be performed using these equations…”

Section: Automated Fe Model Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the required analysis results can be extracted from the output file which can be post processed by programming as well. This is known as the automated finite element modeling technique AFEM (Nawijn et al, 2006) and was used in many works to generate reliable FE models of complicated structures (Rocca and van Tooren, 2009;Sohaib, 2011).…”

Section: Design Process Automationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An automated CAD/CAE integration system for the parametric design of aircraft wing structures

Benaouali

Kachel

2017

jtam

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In order to take advantage of the sophisticated features offered by CAD and CAE packages for modeling and analysis during the design process, it is essential to build a bridge assuring a coherent link between these tools. Furthermore, this integration procedure must be automated so as to get rid of the repetitive costing effort. In this paper, a new automated procedure for the CAD/CAE integration, implemented for the parametric design and structural analysis of aircraft wing structures is presented. This procedure is based on the automation capacity available in modern computer aided tools via build-in basic programming languages as well as the capacity of the model data exchange. The geometric and numerical models can be controlled to generate a large variety of possible design cases through parameters introduced beforehand.

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“…The resulting computational framework (KBE app plus optimizers), called Harness Design and Engineering Engine (HDEE), was architected according to the DEE concept described in [14][15][16]. Figure 8 illustrates the four main components of the HDEE with their connections, namely the Initiator, the Optimizer, the Multi Model Generator (MMG) and the Analysis tools.…”

Section: Kbe Framework For Hybrid Optimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A methodology to enable automatic 3D routing of aircraft Electrical Wiring Interconnection System

2017

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Harness 3D routing is one of the most challenging steps in the design of aircraft Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS). This is due not only to the intrinsic complexity of the EWIS, but also to the increasing number of applying design constraints and its dependency on any change in the design of the airframe and installed systems. The current routing process employed by EWISdesign is largely based on the manual work of expert engineers, partially supported by conventional CAD systems. As a result, the routing process is quite inefficient, error prone and unable to deliver optimal solutions. Although many harness components are selected from catalogues and the design process is largely repetitive and rule based, it has been found that none or very limited automation solutions, which can significantly decrease the workload of engineers and increase their efficiency, are currently available. In this paper, an innovative approach is proposed to solve the 3D routing automation as an optimization problem. Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) and optimization methods are proposed to achieve minimum cost routing solutions that satisfy all relevant design rules and constraints. The proposed solution is scalable in terms of constraints, can be deployed on any type of routing environment, and, thanks to the achieved level of automation, able to reduce the process lead time drastically. The basic idea is to achieve optimal EWIS routing solutions by optimizing the position of the harnesses clamping points, which are used as way-points to route the harnesses inside the aircraft digital mock-up. The challenge to solve this optimization problem is that the number and initial value of design variables, namely the number and position of clamping points, are not known a priori. To handle this challenge, a two-step, hybrid optimization strategy has been devised. The first step, called Initialization, uses a road map based path finding method to generate a preliminary harness definition, including the required number and preliminary position of its clamping points. The second step, called Refinement, uses a conventional optimization method to move the position of the clamps and refine the preliminary harness definition aiming for the minimum cost and the satisfaction of all the design constraints. This approach has been implemented into a KBE application connected with a commercial optimization package and tested on several routing cases. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of handling cases of representative geometric complexity and design constraints and delivering proper 3D harness models in full automation.

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Knowledge-Based Engineering Approach to Support Aircraft Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization

Cited by 58 publications

References 18 publications

Graph-based algorithms and data-driven documents for formulation and visualization of large MDO systems

Graph-based algorithms and data-driven documents for formulation and visualization of large MDO systems

An automated CAD/CAE integration system for the parametric design of aircraft wing structures

A methodology to enable automatic 3D routing of aircraft Electrical Wiring Interconnection System

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