Overview
The FFAST project addresses developing, implementing and assessing a range of numerical simulation technologies to accelerate future aircraft design. Critical load identification methods and reduced order modelling techniques developed, will potentially provide a step change in the efficiency and accuracy of the dynamic aeroelastic loads process.
Identifying the flight conditions that lead to the maximum loads on aircraft structures and introducing higher fidelity methods at these conditions will reduce the cost and turn around time of the loads process of conventional aircraft. This will lead to significant improvements to product development and manufacture, supporting the ACARE 2020 targets.
In addition, innovative designs required for green aircraft can be evaluated more rapidly and at lower risk. Reduced order modelling techniques offer the potential for further step changes in the efficiency of the aeroelastic loads process. These offer the accuracy of high fidelity methods at a cost close to that of the current low fidelity methods.
The objective is to demonstrate a speed up of 2 to 3 orders of magnitude over high fidelity methods.
To achieve the speed up, research will be carried out in work packages to:
- improve identification of critical loads,
- develop reduced order modelling strategies for unsteady aerodynamic and
- aero elastic simulation.
A work package dedicated to validation and evaluation on a set of industrially relevant test cases will judge the success of the technologies developed and give industry confidence to make the necessary pull-through investment.
Strong industrial support of FFAST allows direct exploitation of the results via focused future investment, the solution data base and early release software. The dissemination of FFAST to a wider audience is vital and will be achieved via a website, targeted lectures and workshops, conferences and journal publications.
Funding
Results
In order to solve the requirements of faster turn around time and increased accuracy in the loads process, FFAST has developed, has implemented and has assessed a range of candidate numerical simulation technologies to accelerate the aircraft design process.
Innovation aspects
To achieve the speed up, research has been caried out to: (i) improve identification of critical loads, (ii) develop reduced order modelling strategies for unsteady aerodynamic and (iii) aero elastic simulation.
Technical Implications
The replacement of the current (low fidelity) models with more accurate aeroelastic simulations is attractive because of the reduced tunnel testing costs and the decreased risk of design modification in the later design phases.
Furthermore, the new aircraft configurations that will be vital to meet the 2020 performance targets are likely to possess design envelope boundaries, and therefore critical loads cases, that are very different from those previously found on conventional aircraft.
Strategy targets
Innovating for the future (technology and behaviour): A European Transport Research and Innovation Policy