Skip to main content

NASA's Aviary Takes Flight: A Public Software for Aircraft Design

· NASA (NTRS) · 2025

Public domain · NASA (NTRS)Technical Reports

Overview

An overview of the Aviary aircraft modelling and design tool.

Publisher
NASA (NTRS)
Document
Year
2025
Pages
23
Chapters
23

Slide Number 1

National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA's Aviary Takes Flight:

A Public Software for Aircraft Design

Eliot Aretskin-Hariton, Aviary Developer, NASA Glenn Jason Kirk, Aviary Lead Developer, NASA Langley www.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov Aviary activities have been co-funded by the T , AATT, and EPFD projects

Presentation Roadmap

Presentation Roadmap

• NASA Aeronautics Goals • Aviary meets these needs • How Aviary works • The structure of Aviary • The user’s interaction with Aviary • How Aviary has been used at NASA • Partnership • Future work • How YOU can get involved

NASA Aeronautics Goals

NASA Aeronautics Goals

“NASA's Aeronautics programs focus on research, development, and testing of aviation technology advancements that will benefit humankind and retain U.S.

leadership in a vital manufacturing and transportation sector.” - Robert Pearce, NASA Associate Administrator X-1 HWB GL-10 9pax DEP X-15 X-66A EPFD X-59

Where does Aviary fit in?

Where does Aviary fit in?

Aviary’s Areas of Transformation

Aviary’s Areas of Transformation

Revolutionary Inspires innovation • Enables coupling of disciplines and • Open source, free model and trajectories previously unrealizable result sharing • Consolidation and modernization of • Documentation/ Examples/ multiple closed-source legacy Video Tutorials aircraft design tools • Introduces Students to complex • Allows specialists to specialize - system modelling “Bring Your Own Subsystem, we • Connect new libraries (UQPCE) have an example aircraft” • Bridges Academia and Industry • Optimize complex aircraft designs for high-level objectives • Pathway to High-fidelity

The Details: Structure of Aviary

The Details: Structure of Aviary

Design Design Optimizer Design Config Constraints Constraints Results Total Constraints & Objectives Lifetime $

The Details: User Selecting Disciplines

The Details: User Selecting Disciplines

Legend Aviary Core Subsystem User Defined Subsystem

The Details: Structure of Aviary

The Details: Structure of Aviary

Design Design Optimizer Design TACS Config Constraints mass GASP aero Height- Energy EOM Constraints Results

Total

Constraints & Objectives

Lifetime $

User Interaction with Aviary

User Interaction with Aviary

Aviary’s user interface is designed as a series of “layers” that build on each

other

• Each additional layer becomes more complex and provides more

capability & flexibility

• Accommodates users of all experience levels

Little to no coding required; provide input file and execute (input file)

Level 1

Swap subsystems or make small changes to (Python script with

Level 2

analysis setup helper functions) Custom Python scripts to set up and optimize designs; (fully scripted,

Level 3

introduce complex components or subsystems custom analysis)

Level 1: Draw a Mission

Level 1: Draw a Mission

• Used to generate input files • Allows for visualization of the mission profile • Validation to ensure that the trajectory is physically valid • Processing of the points to reduce the risk of numerical problems

Level 1: Select Your Aircraft .csv

Level 1: Select Your Aircraft .csv

Included Models • Commercial Single-Aisle, 180pax, conventional • Single-Aisle, 96 pax, conventional • N3CC: single-aisle, 165 Pax, 2035 technology • Turboprop freighter: 31k lb payload, turboprop, all- electric variant in progress • Blended Wing Body (BWB), in progress • Community Models*

Understanding Your Results

Understanding Your Results

Applications Within NASA

Applications Within NASA

Collaboration with AATT Model-Based Systems Analysis & Engineering (MBSAE) Project

Advanced

N3CC Concept Future Advanced Concepts

Concepts

• 2035 entry-into-service and Digital Flight Tests • gFan+ engine (HyTEC, AATT, SFD)

Near-Term

Concepts

Boeing 737 MAX 8

Conventional

• Present day technology TTBW Concept • LEAP-1B engine

Aircraft

• 2035 entry-into-service • Electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) • gFan+ engine Airbus A320 Neo • Present day technology • PW1100 GTF / LEAP-1A engine

Partners and External Users

Partners and External Users

Industry Academia

NRA Funded Research Using Aviary for courses Potential FLOPS Replacement

Future Areas of Work

Future Areas of Work

• Blended Wing Body Support • All-electric and hybrid-electric example aircraft • 6DOF Mission EOMs • National Airspace Simulation Digital Twin Integration • Examples Integration with Uncertainty Quantification Tools (UQPCE) • Improving ease of Aviary’s ability for Design of Experiments

Summary

Summary

• NASA Aeronautics Goals • Aviary meets these needs • How Aviary works • The structure of Aviary • The user’s interaction with Aviary • How Aviary has been used at NASA • Partnership • Future work • How YOU can get involved

Try Out Aviary Today!

Try Out Aviary Today!

SCAN HERE Email agency-aviary@mail.nasa.gov to connect with the Aviary team Aviary can also be installed through GitHub: https://github.com/OpenMDAO/Aviary Or the Python package manager: “pip install aviary”

The Aviary Team

The Aviary Team

Thank you to all our current and former members!

Past Members Current Members Current and Past Advisors • Jason Kirk (LaRC) • Ben Phillips (LaRC) • Darrell (DJ) Caldwell (LaRC) • Eliot Aretskin-Hariton (GRC) • Eric Hendricks (GRC) • Jennifer Gratz (GRC) • Ken Moore (GRC) • Justin Gray (formerly GRC) • John Jasa (GRC) • Xun Jiang (LaRC) • Rob Falck (GRC) • Carl Recine (ARC) • Herb Schilling (GRC) • Jeff Bowles (ARC) • Kenny Lyons (ARC) • Chris Bennett (LaRC) • Joseph Garcia (ARC) • Kaushik Ponnapalli (GRC) • Ben Margolis (ARC) • Nathan Perreau (LaRC) • Samara Murri (formerly LaRC) • Erik Olson (formerly LaRC) • Janet Ross (LaRC) • Dahlia Pham (ARC) • Jeff Chapman (GRC) Aviary activities have been co-funded by the T , AATT, and EPFD projects

Understanding your Results

Understanding your Results

Understand, debug, and parse results with interactive reports • High-level summary of final aircraft design • Detailed optimization reports • Detailed reports from each subsystem • Plots and figures of aircraft trajectory and time- dependent variables

Adding External Subsystems

Adding External Subsystems

• User-defined modules need to tell Aviary what to expect from your system: • The states you want to integrate across the mission • Any new variables your system needs • The constraints, parameters, and design variables • Aviary provides the `SubsystemBuilderBase` object, which you use to create your builder

Using Aviary to Model the TTBW

Using Aviary to Model the TTBW

• Non-proprietary TTBW Tech Collector developed by NASA to allow future vehicle technology

studies, open publication of results, and easier collaboration with parties outside of NASA.

• External subsystems used to model geometry, aerodynamics, and propulsion

• EAP technology demonstration for FY23 includes an electric climb assist

TTBW Discipline Model Fidelity

Fuel Tanks

TTBW/EAP Concept

Spars Control Cockpit Cabin Surfaces Avionics APU Forward Hydraulics Cargo Aft Nos Cargo e Main Gea Gear r

Using Aviary to Model Electrified Vehicles

Using Aviary to Model Electrified Vehicles

Conceptual Electrified Freighter • Hybrid-electric, based on C-130 • Outer pair of turboprops replaced with all- electric driven propellers • Legacy tools struggle to model this aircraft • Throttle split between fuel and electric propulsors must be optimized • Aviary can model this vehicle out-of-the- box • Structural weight and aerodynamic performance calibrated to publicly available data • Multiple unique engine models • Conventional turboshaft • All-electric propeller • Propeller modeling using Hamilton Standard • Simple motor and battery models included

Using Aviary to Model Electrified Vehicles

Using Aviary to Model Electrified Vehicles

Conventional Turboprop All-Electric Propeller • New engine model “packages” for conventional and all-electric Hamilton Hamilton Thrust propulsors with propellers Thrust Standard Standard Shaft Horsepower • Reserve mission Shaft Horsepower Motor implementation with flexible Turboshaft Model Deck definition (fuel and electric power use) Electric Power Fuel Flow Battery Model

Source & rights

Source: ntrs.nasa.gov. Public-domain U.S. Government work (17 USC §105) — freely reproducible.

Permanent URL — we don’t break links.

Report a problem or request removal

Document details

Doc number
Publisher
NASA (NTRS)
Year
2025
Pages
23
File size
3.5 MB
Chapters
23