Introduction of a System Definition in the Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema (CPACS)

The aircraft design process is a complex task that requires the collaboration of disciplinary experts from various fields. In practice, this complexity requires a large investment in setting up communication interfaces for the exchange of disciplinary data, and serious misinterpretations are not uncommon. To increase the efficiency and robustness of data exchange, a common language is essential. As such, the Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema (CPACS) serves as a central data model, which currently includes detailed parametrizations of aircraft geometry and analysis results from traditional disciplines (e.g., aerodynamics, structure, etc.). However, with the recent interest in alternative propulsion and complex on-board system architectures, CPACS is proving to be too limited to meet the needs of the various disciplinary system experts. The particular challenge here is to enable different views on the same systems, i.e., a functional/logical as well as a geometric/physical representation, without violating the principle of unambiguous data. Therefore, this paper proposes an extension of CPACS which introduces an explicit system definition covering both representations. Its potential is demonstrated by two use cases from disciplinary experts in the field of on-board system design at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), based on data provided by aircraft design experts. Through validation against the experts’ needs, the proposed system definition proves to bridge the gap between preliminary aircraft design and on-board system design, enabling a holistic, robust and efficient aircraft design process.