Parametric-associative Modelling of aeronautical concepts for structural optimization

In this work, a scheme of representation of structural concepts for the aeronautical field is identified. It is based on an original set of 2D and 3D primitives, representing the main structural components of the aeronautical concept. Starting from them, an associative parametric geometrical modelling of the aeronautic structure, consisting in a quad-mapped mesh, is obtained. The automatic propagation of modifications is implemented so that several structural concepts can be efficiently modelled and modified during the very early phases of the design process. The propagation process aims at the automatic regeneration of the whole mesh thanks to a well-defined hierarchy (or relationship of dependences) among the parametrically defined primitives. Based on the above-mentioned considerations, a CAD/CAE tool, called MeshFEM, has been developed using C++ and Matlab languages and the VTK library for the 3D graphic visualization.