Development of Core Functions for Aircraft Conceptual Design: Methodology and Results

The functional analysis is one of the essential activities during the development of an aircraft, as required by applicable standards, such as the ARP4754A, and the Systems Engineering approach. In an effort to anticipate the... [ view full abstract ]

The functional analysis is one of the essential activities during the development of an aircraft, as required by applicable standards, such as the ARP4754A, and the Systems Engineering approach. In an effort to anticipate the system definition at aircraft level, this work proposes the early analysis of functions, starting at the conceptual design phase. In order to harmonize between the appropriate flexibility that allows for innovations and suitable starting directions that will enable efficient end results, the initial set of functions must be meticulously conceived.
In contrast with existing methodologies and attempts to establish a definitive compendium of aircraft functions, a collection of aircraft core functions is expected to be limited to a manageable size and not be technology-specific, architecture-specific or implementation-specific.
This work describes the methodology proposed and applied for the elicitation of Core Functions within the Advanced Design Department of Product Development Engineering, Aerospace, the group responsible for the conceptual design of future commercial and business aircraft in Bombardier. Two main streams are used for that: functional decomposition and identification of functions as implied by requirements.
The results achieved and herein presented are a set of aircraft-level functions that intend to serve as the root point for the functional analysis in the conceptual development of future platforms by Bombardier, allowing for an open design space and driving innovation in terms of solutions, technologies and architectures.