Designing better aircraft faster and for less money is the holy grail of the highly competitive aerospace industry. Nobody knows this better than Bombardier Aerospace, a world-leading manufacturer of regional aircraft and business jets and Canada's ninth largest research and development performer.

The Montreal-based company is collaborating with MITACS to develop practical software tools for aerodynamic optimization of three-dimensional geometries, such as wings and body configurations, based on novel algorithms developed by Dr. David Zingg, lead investigator on the project.

A researcher at the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies, Dr. Zingg is an expert in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which involves developing, testing and applying numerical techniques to model the complex flow of fluids around aerodynamic shapes such as aircraft wings. CFD has become a critical component in the aerospace design process, enabling faster, less expensive design of safer, more efficient aircraft.

But it is inherently limited in its capability to explore design options in a reasonable time. MITACS researchers are working to change this by improving the algorithms that govern the CFD process. Bombardier is now using this "numerical optimizer" for its new jet designs.

"The cycle to produce an aircraft is long, so any way you can shorten the development time can save a lot of dollars. Also, solving problems at the design stage means far fewer changes later at the test stage when the aircraft is flying. Making changes at this stage is prohibitively expensive so you're better off doing it right the first time. MITACS has been a tremendous help to the team in working towards these goals," says Marc Villeneuve, Director of Advanced Product Development at Bombardier. He is also one of several industry executives on the MITACS Board of Directors.

Advantages to using numerical optimization for aerodynamic design: 1. It's faster than the traditional cut-and-try approach. 2. Formal optimization is more likely to achieve a truly optimal design. 3. Since the computer searches the design space, the designer has more time available for careful specification of the objective function and constraints. 4. Formal optimization permits more accurate and comprehensive evaluation of trade-offs between various conflicting requirements. Source: MITACS Project Website

Over the longer term, he says, the tools developed in this project could help in the design of new aircrafts with low drag, which would help to reduce fuel consumption.

"That's definitely a possibility down the road, but you still have to have a design that is practical to make on the shop floor and that's where I see the immediate benefit from the work MITACS has been doing," explains Mr. Villeneuve. "If I can arrive at the best shape which I can manufacture quickly and cost effectively, and it can reduce drag, those are some major benefits."

Bombardier's Advanced Product Development group is brimming with Ph.D.-level researchers in engineering and fluid dynamics – definitely no amateurs when it comes to mathematics. Yet, the numerical challenges posed in simplifying the CFD algorithms required a much higher skill set.

"For pure mathematics, we don't have that expertise in-house," he adds. "Sometimes engineers think they are mathematicians because they do more mathematics than even an accountant, but it's not close to what experts in the MITACS network can do."