Smarter Testing Through Simulation for Efficient Design and Attainment of Regulatory Compliance

Passenger safety is by far the most important consideration in the development and operation of commercial aircraft. How does Boeing ensure that the structure and systems on its aircraft meet regulatory requirements? A rigorous building block approach verifies and validates analysis by tests. Best practices in tasks such as material characterization, finite element modeling and simulation methods are documented, standardized and applied to produce high quality predictive assessments. These assessments positively impact design and enable well-planned and informed smart testing. Smart testing through simulation maximizes the benefit of necessary tests, augments understanding of performance within and beyond the envelope of test data and minimizes unplanned tests in attaining certification. This paper highlights a few examples of how this approach, referred to as “smarter testing,” has been applied at Boeing in recent years to reduce the cost and flow of structural validation required to bring new materials, technologies and non-traditional structural architectures to market.