Design tool

About: Design tool is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3864 publications have been published within this topic receiving 46401 citations.

Synthesis of Novel Aircraft Concepts for Future Air Travel

Abstract: In the last 60 years many new technologies have entered the aerospace industry, but the overall aircraft design remained virtually unchanged. If we compare an aircraft built in the 1960's with the latest generation, they look strikingly similar. Only small evolutionary changes entered the commercial aircraft market. A lot of these changes are driven by the ever-lasting quest to reduce the amount of burned fuel. However, the reduction in fuel usage which can be gained with these small evolutionary changes decreases every aircraft generation. A revolutionary change in the aircraft design is needed to make step-change in aircraft fuel efficiency. Changing the configuration of the aircraft could create opportunities for aerodynamic and structural improvements, which will result in higher fuel efficiency. Current tools used in the field of aircraft design use a lot of empirical data obtained from the analysis of existing aircraft. These tools are not capable of correctly analysing unconventional aircraft configurations. A design tool, called the Initiator, is created which is able to synthesise a conceptual aircraft design based on a given set of top level requirements for a wide range of aircraft configurations including conventional aircraft, canard aircraft, Prandtl-planes and Blended-Wing-Body aircraft. The Initiator is verified by comparing the output of the Initiator with existing aircraft. A selection of thirteen reference aircraft varying from small regional jets to wide-body long-range jet-powered aircraft is made to verify the tool. Top level requirements are defined which match the payload, harmonic range and runway performance specifications of the reference aircraft. The aircraft generated from these top level requirements are compared to the existing aircraft. The design process is proven to work, since it converges to a feasible aircraft design which complies with the top level requirements. By comparing the maximum take-off weights and operational empty weights, it can be shown that the generated aircraft are similar to the reference aircraft. Nine out of the thirteen generated aircraft are estimated to within 10% of the reference aircraft weights. Visual inspection and comparison of external aircraft dimensions show that the implemented design rules are capable of generating an aircraft which is similar to the reference aircraft. The design tool was used to compare the different aircraft configurations. The design process works for conventional, canard, three-surface and Prandtl aircraft. Testing the design process for the Blended-Wing-Body was unfortunately not possible with the current state of the sizing methods. The canard aircraft design results in a 12% reduction in fuel mass and a 28% reduction in operational empty mass in comparison with a conventional aircraft designed for the same payload and harmonic range. However, since none of the analysis methods have been validated the confidence in the results gained from the configuration comparison in low. It can be concluded that the design tool can be used to synthesise and compare a wide range of different aircraft configurations.

Computer Assistance in Designing from Precedent

Abstract: This paper is an exploration of how different computer techniques can be brought to bear in the analysis of catalogues of design precedents. The techniques include automatic classification, various kinds of frequency analysis, clustering, and connectionist techniques. Connectionist techniques are demonstrated as forming the basis of a useful design tool that facilitates a rudimentary kind of design dialogue. This dialogue involves a kind of exploration within the constraints of an atomistic representation schema in which key features are determined a priori.

Enhancing Virtual Product Representations for Advanced Design Repository Systems

Abstract: This paper describes the transformation of an existing set of heterogeneous product knowledge into a coherent design repository that supports product design knowledge archival and web-based search, display, and design model and tool generation. Guided by design theory, existing product information was analyzed and compared against desired outputs to ascertain what information management structure was needed to produce design resources pertinent to the design process. Several test products were catalogued to determine what information was essential without being redundant in representation. This set allowed for the creation of a novel single point of entry application for product information and the development of a relational database for design knowledge archival. Web services were then implemented to support design knowledge retrieval through search, browse, and real-time design tool generation. Further explored in this paper are the fundamental enabling technologies of the design repository system. Additionally, repository-generated design tools are scrutinized alongside human-generated design tools for validation. Through this process researchers have been able to improve the way in which artifact data are gathered, archived, distributed and used.

Design tool systems and methods, and user interface

Abstract: A method and apparatus for inputting design specifications to calculate output specifications and manufacturing machine code is disclosed. A user interface simplifies the data input by a user to calculate the necessary manufacturing specifications. The user interface is typically connected to a computer aided design (CAD) process. The CAD process in turn processes the design input specifications entered by the user.

tkLayout: a Design Tool for Innovative Silicon Tracking Detectors

Abstract: A new CMS tracker is scheduled to become operational for the LHC Phase 2 upgrade in the early 2020's. tkLayout is a software package developed to create 3d models for the design of the CMS tracker and to evaluate its fundamental performance figures. The new tracker will have to cope with much higher luminosity conditions, resulting in increased track density, harsher radiation exposure and, especially, much higher data acquisition bandwidth, such that equipping the tracker with triggering capabilities is envisaged. The design of an innovative detector involves deciding on an architecture offering the best trade-off among many figures of merit, such as tracking resolution, power dissipation, bandwidth, cost and so on. Quantitatively evaluating these figures of merit as early as possible in the design phase is of capital importance and it is best done with the aid of software models. tkLayout is a flexible modeling tool: new performance estimates and support for different detector geometries can be quickly added, thanks to its modular structure. Besides, the software executes very quickly (about two minutes), so that many possible architectural variations can be rapidly modeled and compared, to help in the choice of a viable detector layout and then to optimize it. A tracker geometry is generated from simple configuration files, defining the module types, layout and materials. Support structures are automatically added and services routed to provide a realistic tracker description. The tracker geometries thus generated can be exported to the standard CMS simulation framework (CMSSW) for full Monte Carlo studies. tkLayout has proven essential in giving guidance to CMS in studying different detector layouts and exploring the feasibility of innovative solutions for tracking detectors, in terms of design, performance and projected costs. This tool has been one of the keys to making important design decisions for over five years now and has also enabled project engineers and simulation experts to focus their efforts on other important or specific issues. Even if tkLayout was designed for the CMS tracker upgrade project, its flexibility makes it experiment-agnostic, so that it could be easily adapted to model other tracking detectors. The technology behind tkLayout is presented, as well as some of the results obtained in the context of the CMS silicon tracker design studies.