Fusion of Aircraft Synthesis and Computer Aided Design
Atherton Carty and Clifton Davies
Abstract
For the benefits of an integrated MDA environment to have a tangible effect on real world aircraft design, a robust integration of those tools used to conduct analysis and those used to develop a design from a geometric standpoint is required. Each must draw upon the strengths of the other in order to mitigate its own weaknesses and fortify the system as a whole. If the fusion of these technologies does not occur, the potential gains of a true MDD environment will likely go unrealized, not because these gains are unattainable, but because analysis does not fully participate the design cycle. Integration of these processes presents the opportunity to strike a balance between the world of MDA and MDD, thus enabling true MDO.
Introduction
For decades the fields of Multidisciplinary Analysis and Computer Aided Design have evolved independently. The paths of these respective evolutions have been dictated by the specific needs of user communities and bounded by the limitations of technical feasibility. Both are integral to the process of designing complex systems. It is interesting that these evolutions have occurred almost completely independent of each other, despite the fact that the two are intimately related. A design has no scientific foundation without analysis, and similarly, an analysis result has no path of realization without a practical design.
Historically the design and analysis cycles within a given program occur simultaneously, but with a surprising degree of autonomy considering they are interdependent processes. This lack of synchronization between analysis and design manifests itself at the implementation level as well, with the interaction of the two occurring as a series of discrete occurrences rather than as a continuous exchange of information. In theory, coordination would come about through the perseverance of individual collaborators and organizational structures supporting an orchestrated process rather than a transparent integration of capabilities. As more iterations conducted however, this man-in-the loopapproach becomes increasingly cumbersome to the point of saturation. Subsequent analyses may have diminished effect on the resulting design due purely to a lack of assimilation capability. This is one of the reasonsthat the impact of MDA and MDO on MDD is often less than anticipated. All of the individual pieces are there to realize true MDD at the mainstream level, but typically they have not been assembled in a manner that allows them to be utilized most effectively.
Download The Complete Paper
(A one-time registration will be requested)
