Bombardier is a global jet and aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Montreal, Canada. They are also known for their public transport vehicles such as their work in the Azur metro cars. It is a large company with annual revenues of billions of US dollars.
Virtual Aircraft Development Framework
Bombardier's “Virtual Aircraft Development Framework” project aims to develop engineering methodologies and tools to virtualize the stages of aircraft design in order to reduce costs and time to market. This framework covers:
• tools for initial assessment and choice of aircraft technologies
• system architecture optimization tools;
• virtual test methods
• development of flight control laws1 by simulations and small-scale tests
• process and documentation for users of the virtual approach.
Progress of the past year
Efforts for the next year
With more than 15 milestones achieved over the past year despite delays incurred due to the temporary shutdown of activities due to COVID-19, this project has allowed Bombardier to go beyond what-if analysis and to focus more on the challenges of developing a robust digital representation of our products from concept to operation. Thus, Bombardier has a digital thread starting from the tools for initial choice of aircraft technologies, passing through tools for optimizing system architectures and then detailed design tools.
The following year will be oriented towards validating our processes and documenting prototypes for system architecture, design and virtual testing. This will be done through software platforms that connect engineering domains and downstream functions, ensuring continuity of information from requirements generation to certification and beyond.