Abstract
Multidisciplinary design tools are the backbone of conceptual design studies to evaluate and assess future propulsion systems. In the last decade, the IT capabilities dramatically increased. At the same time, “zooming” capabilities and more complex evaluation methods found their way into predesign tools. As a consequence, the bottleneck when performing a design study is neither the computational power nor sufficient computer memory anymore, but rather the abilities of the users to apply the dedicated tools adequately.
Therefore, it is crucial to limit the administrative tasks dealing with input and output as much as possible. Those administrative tasks can comprise the preparation of input data and — even more importantly — the check of the model setup and the inspection of the results regarding physical soundness.
The paper describes by means of examples how to cope with the challenges described above. The following topics will be addressed: standardization in the field of model configuration (engine model library), automated multidimensional check of multidisciplinary propulsion system models, use of high fidelity methods for pre-design, state-of-the-art error detection, semi-automated parametric studies including the automated set-up of a parametric study, automated convergence improvement, automated result handling, and error detection provided by the codes themselves or by other means of external user guidance.
