NEXTAIR - NEXTAIR - multi-disciplinary digital - enablers for NEXT-generation AIRcraft design and operations
Overview
Background & policy context:
Mitigating aviation’s impact on climate change requires major changes in aircraft configurations and operations. Digital methodologies that optimise aircraft performance will play a key role in this transformation. Through eight industrial test cases, the EU-funded NEXTAIR project will build and validate novel design methodologies, data-fusion procedures and smart health assessment tools. Together, these solutions will lead to the digital transformation of aircraft design, manufacturing, and maintenance. The project will improve methods to better tackle the uncertainty in manufacturing and the inconsistency in operations for the industrial, multi-disciplinary design of aircraft and engine components.
Objectives:
Radical changes in aircraft configurations and operations are required to meet the target of climate-neutral aviation. To foster this transformation, innovative digital methodologies are of utmost importance to enable the optimisation of aircraft performances.
NEXTAIR will increase high-fidelity modelling and simulation capabilities to accelerate and derisk new disruptive configurations and breakthrough technologies design. NEXTAIR will also improve the efficiency of uncertainty quantification and robust optimisation techniques to effectively account for manufacturing uncertainty and operational variability in the industrial multi-disciplinary design of aircraft and engine components. Finally, NEXTAIR will extend the usability of machine learning-driven methodologies to contribute to aircraft and engine components' digital twinning for smart prototyping and maintenance.
NEXTAIR brings together 16 partners from 6 countries specialised in various disciplines: digital tools, advanced modelling and simulation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, aerospace design, and innovative manufacturing. The consortium includes 9 research organisations, 4 leading aeronautical industries providing digital-physical scaled demonstrator aircraft and engines and 2 high-Tech SME providing expertise in industrial scientific computing and data intelligence.
Methodology:
NEXTAIR will develop and demonstrate innovative design methodologies, data-fusion techniques and smart health-assessment tools enabling the digital transformation of aircraft design, manufacturing and maintenance. NEXTAIR proposes digital enablers covering the whole aircraft life-cycle devoted to ease breakthrough technology maturation, their flawless entry into service and smart health assessment. They will be demonstrated in 8 industrial test cases, representative of multi-physics industrial design, maintenance problems and environmental challenges and interest for aircraft and engines manufacturers.
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