The increase in electrification<\/strong>
Electrification came to aircraft slowly. From the early days when the Wright brothers first took flight in 1903, up to the 1970s, the fundamental disciplines applied to aircraft design saw little change. New capability was typically implemented mechanically, pneumatically or hydraulically. Gathering decades of hard-earned experience, our industry developed the intuition necessary to contain aircraft development program risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today,\nthe stakes have changed. Now when an aircraft OEM differentiates a platform, an\nincreasing number of the capabilities are electrically enabled. The industry\nmade a big leap forward in electrification in the 1970s when the first\nfly-by-wire system was introduced. In the last 20 years, there has been a\nserious escalation in electrical content. Figure 1 demonstrates how\ncommercial aircraft electrical power demand, a proxy for onboard electrical\nsystem content, has grown since the early days of flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Electrical\nsystem complexity on the rise<\/strong> Finally, as digital systems have replaced analog ones, networked digital communication has risen substantially. Today, analog point-to-point connections are declining while the use of sophisticated digital communication buses has dramatically increased, supplying a larger percentage of on-board data communication. What exactly does this mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It means aircraft OEMs, and their suppliers must deliver on their technical promises while remaining within the cost and schedule estimates made at the time the program was proposed or bid. This is a tall order. As an aircraft OEM embarks on any new program, they must always balance the amount of innovation promised against the amount of financial, schedule and reputation risk they are willing to accept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With increased electrical complexity comes increased program risk. With electrification still relatively new manufacturers lack the deep experience to develop low-risk, electrically enabled platforms. Hence, they run into substantial program problems. These missteps can cost billions of dollars. Some of the more common and costlier issues include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Model-based, electrical and electronic system development<\/strong> A model-based approach to E\/E system development goes well beyond eliminating drawings and paper-based documents. Rather than simply digitizing these documents, a model-based approach employs digital models, or twins, of a product\u2019s design, manufacturing process (and the artifacts that support it), and sustainment to automate and better manage the entire product lifecycle. It integrates the entire product lifecycle digitally, employing a digital thread to connect the various life cycle stages (Figure 2). Physical hand-offs between teams and independent data systems are significantly reduced and ultimately eliminated. As part of the Siemens Xcelerator<\/a> portfolio, this represents an evolutionary shift to a connected digital work environment, employing continuity of digital information to enable collaboration among multiple engineering disciplines, up and down the value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking electrical system development to the next level<\/strong> And this is where the Siemens\u2019 Capital solution comes into play. Capital enables model-based development. The principles that underlie it are inherent to its architecture and naturally result in a digital twin of the platform\u2019s electrical system. Furthermore, this approach natively implements the digital thread connecting E\/E system development throughout the lifecycle and among the core electrical implementation disciplines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nthe results of adopting this model-based approach are already evident. One\nbusiness jet OEM who invested in Capital deployed the full digital thread from\ndesign through manufacturing to implement model-based EWIS development. They\ncarried this out fully, improving harness manufacturing tooling, processes and\nwork instruction. The result: a reduction in harness manufacturing touch labor\nthat ultimately added more than three percent to platform profitability!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2020\/03\/Figure-1-History-of-power-on-planes-1024x628.jpg\")
\nIncreased electrification in modern aircraft translates into increased\nelectrical system complexity. On a typical business jet, for example, it\u2019s not\nuncommon to have over 120 independent electrical systems. The electrical wiring\ninterconnect system (EWIS), physically linking all these systems, can be\ncomposed of up to 350 wire harnesses comprising as many as 30,000 wire\nsegments. This could easily add up to over 50 miles of wire \u2013 and well over\n100,000 parts. Most of these electrical systems are intelligent, employing\nsophisticated software to deliver their functionality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Balancing innovation and risk<\/strong>
To achieve profitability goals while satisfying their customers\u2019 increasing demands for efficiency and mission capability, aerospace companies must execute development and manufacturing programs in adherence to their planned commitments. This requires program execution excellence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/li>
<\/li>
<\/li>
Successfully coping with increased electrical system complexity requires a model-based approach to platform electrical and electronic (E\/E) system development. Those who invest in this type of digital competency gain a competitive advantage through a combination of increased productivity and decreased risk levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2020\/03\/Final_Fig-2-Digital-Twin-1024x431.jpg\")
Implementing a model-based approach for aerospace E\/E system development is an essential aspect of gaining overall digital business process competency, leading to reduced program risk. It allows those who participate to transform their business and engineering processes, improving productivity, accelerating program completion and adding innovative new platform capabilities to differentiate themselves in their markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n