Comprehensive aircraft configuration design tool for Integrated Product and Process Development

This paper describes an efficient aircraft geometry design tool which is necessary for design and analysis applications through Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD). The design process decomposes aircraft geometry into several components to represent it precisely and realistically with a reduced number of shape control parameters. For this purpose, several configuration representation algorithms are thoroughly investigated and discussed. The proposed configuration generation algorithm employs the super ellipse equation with polynomial distribution functions, Class function/Shape function Transformation (CST) and can represent and manipulate complex shapes accurately with a small number of control parameters. A model of aircraft geometry, represented in this approach, can be applied to any stage of aircraft design and development with realistic and accurate configuration data. A solution for connecting and storing the represented shapes in a Product Data Management system is also developed and demonstrated. The proposed configuration design tool could be especially efficient when automation, flexibility and rapid changes of geometry are required in a short time and with low computational resources.