CPACS

The Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema (CPACS) is the digital backbone of DLR’s aircraft concepts. CPACS can be regarded as a language, defining a common data structure for the air transportation system.

Designing an entirely new aircraft architecture is highly complex. Multiple disciplines need to work hand in hand, such as aerodynamics, structural mechanics, and flight mechanics. The problem: experts from the different disciplines have a different way of describing a certain aspect of the aircraft - one could say they speak different languages. Moreover, every expert area needs a different set of data in their own “language” to come up with their optimal solutions. They require information input from varying other disciplines (workflow) into their own digital tools (software, etc.). This applies for all involved disciplines.

This is why the DLR started developping CPACS in the year 2005. CPACS enables engineers to exchange information efficiently. It is therefore a driver for multi-disciplinary and multi-fidelity design in distributed environments.

CPACS describes the characteristics of aircraft, rotorcraft, engines, climate impact, fleets and missions in a structured, hierarchical manner. It follows a central model approach, therefore the number of interfaces is reduced to a minimum.

In short, CPACS is one of DLR’s building blocks to advance collaborative research on sustainable aviation. For further information, please visit www.cpacs.de ⇗.