According to the Industry 4.0 concept, every product has its corresponding digital description or virtual avatar. It turns into a strategic tool for ensuring long-term success throughout the entire life cycle of the product. The new MC-21 medium airliner, whose flight testing has been continuing by Irkut Corporation since May 2017, is no exception. Earlier, the company had mastered the integrated use of digital technologies in the development of the Yak-130 supersonic trainer and the serial production of components for the Airbus A320 family.
As Andrey Belov, deputy chief designer of Irkut Corporation for managing the electronic layout and configuration, opines, "In the interests of all stages of the life cycle of the MC-21 aircraft, a digital description of the product in the form of an electronic model and a calculation model are designed. This approach is an important element of the Industry 4.0 concept, which is now followed by the world's leading aircraft manufacturers”.
"Initially, the electronic layout was intended to replace the wooden layout with the primary linkage of the structure," added Andrei Belov, “however, the mathematical description gives incomparably more opportunities. Now we have digital technologies deployed for the design, production and operation of aviation equipment."
Meanwhile, aerodynamic and strength calculations, as well as the technological requirements for the production of each part is taking place simultaneously. "This approach allows one to quickly sort through various options and choose from them the most optimal, corresponding to the specified characteristics," explained Andrey Belov. “We significantly narrow the search area, analysing the gas dynamic characteristics of the aircraft, as well as its strength characteristics. The entire data is continuously refined, therefore it is impossible to provide the required number of iterations in the traditional way. We provide a dynamic exchange of data between all the participants of the programme. This allows you to quickly respond to changing economic conditions, new customer requirements and regulatory documents”.
Within the framework of the MC-21 programme, digital models have been created that include hundreds of thousands of components and describe more than 30 different aircraft configurations. The corporation does not have any single level or process that does not use digital technologies.
Among the components of the digital description, along with the electronic layout, there are numerous models describing aerodynamics and gas dynamics, loads, production technology, as well as maintenance operations. Irkut Corp. applies various information systems of vendors from around the world like Siemens, IBM, Ansys, and so on, leading Russian IT enterprises, as well as its own systems. The comprehensive level of introduction of information technologies allows solving complex problems of system engineering, strength, technology and support of airline operators.
Irkut’s strides in avenues of development of production, the precise docking of the airframe assemblies, the rapid introduction of changes in the design of the aircraft based on the results of the first test flight
has became possible owing to the introduction of digital technologies.
Currently, the efforts of engineers are focused on development of the electronic layout in order to support the operations of MC-21. The digital description of the MC-21 has become the basis for the development of the method of its maintenance in the process of designing the aircraft. The 3D geometry of the structure is being formed for all units and the ergonomics of personnel access for maintenance and repair operations is being studied. These procedures are being finalised in the course of testing the first MC-21 aircraft, which will allow development of interactive operational documentation for the commencement of commercial operation of the aircraft.
The design team at Irkut Corporation works on augmenting the functionality of the electronic layout. As Andrey Belov says: "We will use the digital twin of the aircraft to obtain the characteristics of products in service."
The next stage of development will be the removal of the dynamic characteristics of a real aircraft in the process of its operation, their modeling on a digital model and forecasting the behaviour of a real aircraft. The task is to conduct constant monitoring of the state of all systems of the aircraft, analyse their development and possible future problems.
"The real exploitation of digital counterparts has not started yet," says Andrey Belov, "but all leading aircraft manufacturers have focused their efforts in this direction. We are also working to implement this approach within the framework of the MC-21 programme. "
Alexei Sinitsky
MC-21 airliner in flight