This paper was produced for the 2019 NAFEMS World Congress in Quebec Canada

Resource Abstract

Airbus High Lift Test Department at Bremen successfully uses since more than a decade flexible Multi-Body Simulation (MBS) for system testing purposes.



The approach of Virtual Testing (VT) by means of computer simulations of physics-based models has been applied for all major aircraft development programmes of the last years since A380.



Virtual Testing has been improved continuously. Its use has been extended and it has shown its vast potential and capabilities for Airbus, e.g. by increasing system insight by parameter variations and hence demonstrating the possibility of a greater design maturity at an earlier point in time.



Since the beginning, the high lift test department has put emphasis on two major elements: Besides the actual creation of high fidelity models, the department has always concentrated as well on the related Simulation Process and Data Management (SPDM) – being the only way in order to achieve traceability, reproducibility of results and reliable configuration management.



In this context, the paper focuses on one of the first virtual testing process steps: The creation of the initial multi-body simulation model.



Instead of interactive modelling in the pre-processor (which would lead to bad traceability), the model is created by execution of python scripts, using the pre-processor’s python API (Application Programming Interface). The model is defined in Excel spreadsheets. Macro functionality is used to improve usability, e.g. by automatic formatting, basic consistency checks and starting of the python script execution for actual model creation. This results in a very systematic and structured model creation process and provides an excellent way for reviewing the model’s contents.



The paper explains also how the model creation process is embedded in the High Lift System Virtual Test Portal (HLSVT Portal), the department’s COTS based SPDM system (based on SimManager 2012, MSC.Software).



It concludes with an outlook about future activities and enhancements.