Project Description

Thermal behaviour of aircraft has recently become a crucial subject due to many factors: increasing number of complex systems required by modern, more electric, commercial aircraft, the introduction of hotter engines with higher by-pass ratios, the increased use of composite material in aircraft structures, or the finement of highly dissipative equipment and systems in smaller areas to earn space for passengers and cargo. New advanced techniques to manage the aircraft thermal behaviour at the very early stages of development are essential to take the right figuration decisions while meeting market demands. To work efficiently and on emerging innovative solutions, it is essential to perform thermal management at the global aircraft level. Today, thermal studies are performed for sizing and risk analyses.

The TOICA project intends to radically change the way thermal studies are performed within aircraft design processes. It will create and manage a thermal aircraft architecture which today does not exist. This will be shared in the extended enterprise with design partners through a collaborative environment supporting new advanced capabilities developed by the project, namely the architect cockpit, which will allow the architects and experts to monitor the thermal assessment of an aircraft and to perform trade-off  studies. Super integration will support a holistic view of the aircraft and allow traditional design views and the related simulation cascade to be challenged. Six use cases illustrating new thermal strategies will demonstrate the benefits of the TOICA approach on realistic aircraft figurations. Plateaus will be organised with architects for the definition, selection and evaluation of thermally optimised aircraft figurations. These plateaus will drumbeat the project. In parallel, technology readiness evaluations will assess the maturity of the developed technologies and support the deployment and exploitation of the TOICA results. 

Partners

Coordinator: Airbus Operations Sas

Participants: Thales Avionics Sas , Samtech Sa, Dassault Aviation Sa, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company Eads France Sas, The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, Epsilon Ingenierie, Dassault Systemes Sa, Airbus Operations GmbH, Chalmers Tekniska Hoegskola Ab, Maya Heat Transfer Technologies Ltd., Deutsches Zentrum für Luft - und Raumfahrt Ev, Siemens Industry Software Limited, Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales, Xrg Simulation GmbH, Stichting Nationaal Lucht- En Ruimtevaartlaboratorium, Arttic, Alenia Aermacchi Spa, Eurocopter Sas, Atherm, Snecma Sa, Msc Software GmbH, Intertechnique Sas, Centre de Recherche en Aéronautique Asbl – Cenaero, Airbus Operations Limited, Cranfield University, Eurostep Ab, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse Sas, Lms Imagine Sa, Gkn Aerospace Sweden Ab, Università degli Studi di Padova