Formalized Knowledge Management for the Aircraft Cabin Design Process

Abstract

The design process of an aircraft cabin as well as the cabin systems are driven by design rules and certification requirements. These are necessary to ensure a secure air travel. Furthermore, the cabin should provide a comfortable area for the passengers and a pleasant working environment for the cabin crew. To improve the flight experience and to generate new use cases for the airlines, new technologies and innovations are required. However, the cabin itself is a complex system, which is subdivided into many subsystems (System of Systems). In addition, the interactions of the different systems may not be directly apparent for the partners involved. For that reason, this paper demonstrates a framework for the methodical design of an aircraft cabin and its systems. Therefore, a Central Data Model is established where the design knowledge, the requirements and the connections of the systems are formalized. The parameters are then used to automatically design the cabin systems. Subsequently, the data created in the model is linked with the 3D-geometries of the components and visualized using a virtual reality (VR) environment. Control elements make it possible to highlight relevant systems and their interdependences to get a more intuitive and enhanced overview for integrating new technologies or to evaluate the cabin design.