This presentation was made at NAFEMS Americas 2018 Seminar, "Aerospace Simulation Engineering - Navigating the Digital Thread".

Aerospace manufacturers and suppliers are facing an increasingly challenging and competitive marketplace as their products are becoming more complex via tighter integration of systems and cyber-physical environments. That being said, there are rising interests to incorporate Digital Threads as communication frameworks for sharing product lifecycle information seamlessly and Digital Twin methodologies for assessing virtually the expected and future operational physics-based capabilities of a product throughout its lifecycle. Utilizing these techniques in conjunction with the latest engineering simulation tools effectively, accurately and efficiently to meet business goals has never been more critical, as aerospace engineering continues to move into a highly-advanced technological space.

ABSTRACT

Thermal fluid systems that both heat and cool are often utilized in aerospace applications. They are also often found in continuous processes where heating is required at one point in the process and cooling (often for heat recovery) is required in a different part of the process. Because these systems utilize the same fluid for both the heating and cooling process, they are collectively referred to as “single fluid systems.” This article discusses considerations specific to the design and operation of single fluid systems, although some of these considerations are more widely applicable. Single fluid systems can operate in an efficient and trouble-free manner or they can subject the owner to operational inefficiencies and maintenance problems, depending on whether certain design and operational pitfalls are avoided. GE’s Flow Simulator is a Fluid System Design software under Altair Hyperworks portfolio that encompass several numerical techniques that conquer the robustness issues of stiff fluid system designs. It is the only fluid system design tool GE utilized to develop world record efficient gas turbines and the more advanced aircraft engines in the industry. In this presentation, we will demonstrate several uses cases pertinent to turbomachinery and aerospace industry and focus on the importance of system level tool with mixed fidelity capabilities in realizing the concept of digital twin. We focus on the mixed fidelity capabilities of Flow Simulator which allows to seamless connect 1D-3D models and the low fidelity 3D system models which are used to simulate the entire “mission” of the aero engine. A low fidelity 3D model of an under cowl of aero engine is presented in greater detail.