Aircraft Systems Modeling : Model Based Systems Engineering in Avionics Design and Aircraft Simulation

Abstract: Aircraft developers like other development and manufacturing companies, are experiencing increasing complexity in their products and growing competition in the global market. One way to confront the challenges is to make the development process more efficient and to shorten time to market for new products/variants by using design and development methods based on models. Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is introduced to, in a structured way, support engineers with aids and rules in order to engineer systems in a new way.In this thesis, model based strategies for aircraft and avionics development are studied. A background to avionics architectures and in particular Integrated Modular Avionics is described. The integrating discipline Systems Engineering, MBSE and applicable standards are also described. A survey on available and emerging modeling techniques and tools, such as Hosted Simulation, is presented and Modeling Domains are defined in order to analyze the engineering environment with all its vital parts to support an MBSE approach.Time and money may be saved by using modeling techniques that enable understanding of the engineering problem, state-of-the-art analysis and team communication, with preserved or increased quality and sense of control. Dynamic simulation is an activity increasingly used in aerospace, for several reasons; to prove the product concept, to validate stated requirements, and to verify the final implementation. Simulation is also used for end-user training, with specialized training simulators, but with the same underlying models. As models grow in complexity, and the set of simulation platforms is expanded, new needs for specification, model building and configuration support arise, which requires a modeling framework to be efficient.