For several years, IRT Saint Exupéry has been developing multidisciplinary optimization capabilities through the open-source software GEMSEO. These developments promote the use of models in more integrated design loops, bridging different engineering domains and physical disciplines involved in complex systems. Beyond performance gains, the goal is also to shorten development times and to enhance the ability to find optimal architectural trade-offs.
To reduce the certification timelines of systems designed in this way, it is crucial to assess the credibility of the models being used. When model credibility is sufficiently established, greater confidence can be placed in simulation and optimization results, thereby reducing the need for extensive, risky, and costly physical testing. This is the goal of IRT Saint Exupéry’s work on Verification, Validation, and Uncertainty Quantification (V&VUQ) for simulations.
This work is part of projects conducted within the TFA domain since 2018 (notably VITAL and TRUST), supported by the teams and digital capabilities of the MDO Competence Center. Leveraging the GEMSEO software, the project teams are developing a dedicated software platform for implementing V&VUQ processes to facilitate and standardize the assessment of model credibility.
The main current application focuses on aerospace composite structures and damage models used to predict structural resistance under various load conditions. In this context, thousands of physical tests could be avoided when integrating, for instance, new, high-performance, and more sustainable composite materials, through a certification-by-analysis approach supported by targeted testing.
Thanks to work carried out with GEMSEO, the V&VUQ platform not only benefits from state-of-the-art features in sensitivity analysis, machine learning, and uncertainty quantification, but the models whose credibility has been evaluated can also be directly used in multidisciplinary optimizations.
“Originating from the pioneering VITAL and TRUST projects, this V&VUQ software platform can also be used to integrate and assess the credibility of simulations and models in other domains at IRT Saint Exupéry, such as electric powertrain optimization, in synergy with GEMSEO.”
Fabio Coccetti, Head of the High-Reliability Energy Competence Center, Greener Technologies domain.
“This collaboration with the MOSC teams is essential for accelerating the maturation of technologies developed within the TFA domain.”
Yannick Girard, Director of Additive Manufacturing Technologies