A framework for the conceptual and preliminary design of aircraft equipments

International audienceThis paper presents a Python framework for the preliminary design of embedded mechatronic systems. Mechatronic systems have the particularity to involve several levels of design and several technologies. In addition, embedded systems introduce to the design problem specific constraints like energy consumption, resistance/impact to/on environment, mass, geometrical integration and reliability. In order to support the designer in satisfying these constraints, a Model-Based Design methodology and corresponding framework is proposed. Models used during preliminary design of such multi-domain systems come from several disciplines and have different scales: distributed parameters (3D Finite Element Method (FEM), 3D Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD)) for local level, lumped parameters (1D/0D, Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE), Algebraic Differential Equations (ADE)) and state machine for global level. The dynamic simulation through 0D-1D models of the system to be designed is commonly used to validate architectural choices and preliminary sizing that require multi-disciplinary optimization. Unfortunately, optimization can not only apply to the system level and resort to 3D models cannot be avoided, even during the early design phases. The proposed framework aims at implementing the optimization loops at both local and global levels in an open source environment. It will be illustrated through a case study that deals with the preliminary design of a rotary electromechanical actuator for primary flight control