Licentiatavhandling Linköping : Linköpings universitet. Department of Management and Engineering. Division of Machine Design. Linköping Studies in Science and Technology 1366, 2008

With the present work the author intends to propose a novel strategy for the use of high-end tools already from the initial early design stages and to evaluate to which extent the proposed ideas are feasible in a design task. In most cases the first steps in designing a new aircraft are dominated by the use of very simple low-fidelity empirical or statistical-based models. The key idea is to try to find a way of anticipate the use of complex CAD systems and analytical tools already to the conceptual design phases without the burden of complex and time consuming repeated operations. In other terms, enabling the use of high fidelity systems, connected together in a flexible and user friendly architecture. This thesis presents a solution for allowing designers to maintain a comprehensive perspective of the aircraft during the conceptual phase, in order to avoid the view being dominated by one discipline only. The presented work has to be seen as an effort to continue the research carried out at Linköpings universitet, aimed at developing modern and efficient system design tools. The Modulith distributed framework which originates from this research has been adopted as a base upon which to continue building, and into which to plug in the wanted software.