# Commercial Aircraft Design

Design faster, safer, and more sustainable aircraft with SIMULIA on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform — integrating high‑fidelity multiphysics simulation and MODSIM.

(SIMULIA Commercial Aircraft Design)Engineering the Future of Commercial Aviation

Commercial aviation is undergoing a fundamental shift. As the industry moves toward carbon neutrality, higher production rates, and new aircraft architectures, it must innovate faster, without the cost and schedule overruns that have defined past programs.

This demands a new engineering approach, where high-fidelity simulation is embedded into digital development from the start. SIMULIA enables this shift through advanced structural simulation with Abaqus, aerodynamic analysis with [PowerFLOW](/products/simulia/powerflow "PowerFLOW"), and electromagnetic simulation with [CST Studio Suite](/products/simulia/cst-studio-suite "CST Studio Suite"). Integrated on the [**3D**EXPERIENCE platform](/3dexperience "The 3DEXPERIENCE platform"), SIMULIA connects simulation with design and requirements, enabling multi-physics insight, full traceability, and confident decisions at scale.

Key Benefits of SIMULIA's Commercial Aircraft Solutions

Avoid Program Delays

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2024-09/icon-005-avoid.png)

Reduced Physical Testing

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2022-07/icon-007-reduce-time-design.png)

Unified Modeling and Simulation

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2023-10/icon-127-3dx-platform.png)

Multiphysics Simulation Capabilities

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2022-07/icon-067-solutions-platform.png)

(SIMULIA Commercial Aircraft Design) Community Noise Prediction

Aircraft entering service in the coming decade will face much stricter noise regulations. Novel architectures and propulsion concepts, such as open rotors, make compliance increasingly difficult and require new approaches to noise assessment.

Noise must be addressed from the earliest design stages using high-fidelity aeroacoustic simulation. SIMULIA PowerFLOW, built on more than 15 years of collaboration with NASA, captures airframe and engine noise sources and predicts community noise impact with certification-relevant accuracy.

[Community Noise Prediction](/media/23451)

[Learn more about quieter aircrafts](https://events.3ds.com/simulia-designing-quieter-aircraft)

(Commercial Aircraft Highlight)MODSIM on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

- Modern commercial aircraft development demands faster, more collaborative workflows as digitalization expands modeling and simulation across the entire lifecycle.
- [MODSIM (Modeling and Simulation)](https://frontoffice-contrib.itvpc.3ds.com/products/simulia/modsim "MODSIM"), powered by the **3D**EXPERIENCE platform, unifies modeling and simulation in a single environment, enabling concurrent, simulation-driven design through a shared source of truth that reduces risk and accelerates innovation.

[Modsim in aerospace](/media/22938)

(SIMULIA Commercial Aircraft Design)Smarter Testing Towards Certification by Analysis

Aerospace certification has traditionally relied on physical testing, with simulation in a supporting role. Hybrid testing is changing this. High-fidelity simulation now works alongside physical tests to support compliance by:

- Enabling earlier simulation use
- Reducing reliance on some large-scale tests
- Improving traceability between tests and models

The **3D**EXPERIENCE platform connects physical and virtual analysis to **reduce certification risk** and late-stage delays.

[Smarter Testing towards Certification by Analysis](/media/23452)

[Explore how Airbus uses SIMULIA smarter testing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0UlJ_lOElI)

Simulation Governance and Data Management

Simulation Process and Data Management

Commercial Aircraft demand high performance and reliability, generating vast simulation data that must be managed effectively. The **3D**EXPERIENCE platform streamlines SPDM by:

- Unifying data with project management.
- Ensuring traceability and compliance.
- Enabling collaboration and reducing uncertainty.
- Optimizing workflows for faster mission readiness.

SPDM ensures efficient, reliable, and scalable simulations.

Simulation Governance and Model Management

As simulation tools grow in scale and complexity, managing multidisciplinary interdependencies and diverse data threads requires advanced solutions. The **3D**EXPERIENCE platform enhances simulation governance by:

- Managing content lifecycles and relationships.
- Supporting physical and virtual test campaigns.
- Aligning with ISO 10303-243 (MoSSEC framework) for improved traceability and collaboration.

This ensures better decision-making and streamlined workflows.

Commercial Aircraft Design Workflows

Aerodynamics

SIMULIA extends aerodynamic analysis across the full flight envelope. While CFD is mature at cruise, certification-critical regimes such as high-lift near stall, shock–boundary-layer interaction, and icing have relied on wind-tunnel testing. **PowerFLOW delivers validated, high-fidelity simulation** for these complex flows, reducing wind-tunnel dependency and enabling a more efficient, simulation-driven certification process.

High-Lift Aerodynamics

High-lift aerodynamics are critical to wing design and airworthiness certification. Deployed landing gear, flaps, and slats introduce complex, separated flows that define stall behavior.

PowerFLOW delivers industry-leading high-fidelity simulation of **high-lift configurations**, accurately predicting lift and drag while replacing thousands of wind-tunnel test hours and reducing flight-test and certification risk.

[High Lift](/media/24021)

Iced Wing Aerodynamics

Wing icing is a major driver of **airworthiness certification**, requiring safe operation under severe conditions.

PowerFLOW accurately simulates complex **ice shapes** and **icing-induced performance degradation**, enabling early assessment, reducing development risk, and minimizing reliance on costly **icing flight tests**.

[Iced wing aerodynmics](/media/23483)

Community Noise

With tightening noise regulations from certification authorities and airports, predicting aircraft noise during takeoff and landing is a critical design requirement. Traditional wind-tunnel and late-stage flight tests offer limited insight and make late changes costly.

PowerFLOW delivers high-fidelity **aircraft noise prediction** within 1–2 dB of flight tests. By capturing noise from **high-lift devices**, **engines**, and **landing gear,** it enables early compliance, reduces program risk, and avoids costly redesigns.

[Community Noise](/media/23485)

Electromagnetics

Connected aircraft programs rely on high-speed links to enhance safety, enable predictive maintenance, and improve the passenger experience. Higher-frequency Ka-band SATCOM and 5G coexistence create challenges with antenna performance, co-site interference, and EMI. SIMULIA on the **3D**EXPERIENCE platform connects requirements, CAD, solvers, and results in a single digital thread, reducing handoffs and accelerating iteration. With **CST Studio Suite**, hybrid methods, and **GPU/HPC compute**, teams compare variants early, cut prototype loops, and build stronger evidence for safety and certification.

Connected Aircraft Experience

Seamless connectivity improves safety, enables predictive maintenance, and enhances the passenger experience. Installed antennas can be affected by platform effects and co-site interference if discovered late.

**Capabilities:**

- **Antenna performance** across aircraft bands (VHF–Ka)
- **Co-site interference analysis**
- **Mitigation** with filters and RF components before prototypes

**Tools: 3D**EXPERIENCE, CST Studio Suite, Antenna Magus, Filter Designer 3D, FEST3D, WASP-NET

**Benefits:** Faster convergence, fewer antenna relocations, and less physical prototyping.

[Connected Aircraft Experience ](/media/23478)

(Commercial EM workflow) Inflight Safety Experience

Civil aircraft must withstand lightning indirect effects, HIRF, and onboard EMI, especially as CFRP structures reduce natural shielding. SIMULIA enables early, model-based assessment tied directly to the aircraft geometry and harness topology.

**Capabilities:**

- **Lightning**, **HIRF**, and **EMI** scenario setup from CAD and harness data
- Hazard-aligned **solver selection**
- Field, cable, and pin-level analysis against **avionics susceptibility limits**

**Tools:** **3D**EXPERIENCE, CATIA, ENOVIA, CST Studio Suite, EMC Wizard

**Benefits:** Earlier insight, lab testing focused on validation, fewer late redesigns.

[Inflight Safety](/media/23479)

(Commercial EM workflow) Certification by EM Analysis

EM hazard certification relies on testing, analysis, and similarity, but late issues are costly. Combining physical testing with EM simulation extends confidence from ground to in-flight conditions by linking measured and simulated responses.

**Capabilities:**

- **Ground-to-flight correlation** using measured and simulated surface currents
- **Validated aircraft models** for targeted mitigation studies
- **Traceable reporting** for engineering and compliance reviews

**Tools:** **3D**EXPERIENCE, CST Studio Suite

**Benefits:** Stronger certification evidence, fewer late design changes, fewer test surprises.

[Certification by Analysis](/media/23480)

(Commercial EM workflow) 3DEXPERIENCE EM Digital Thread

Aircraft EM problems span millimeters to meters and scale to millions of unknowns, while geometry and assumptions evolve continuously. The **3D**EXPERIENCE platform provides a single source of truth and digital thread, eliminating error-prone handoffs as changes propagate across teams.

**Capabilities:**

- **Unified data backbone** for geometry, requirements, and simulation
- **Hybrid multi-solver methods** for multiscale EM analysis
- **GPU/HPC acceleration**, including cloud burst compute

**Tools:** **3D**EXPERIENCE, CATIA, ENOVIA, CST Studio Suite

**Benefits:** Less rework, lower prototyping risk, faster engineering iteration.

[3DEXPERIENCE EM Digital Thread](/media/23481)

Structural Analysis

Strength and Integrity Analysis

Aircraft structural design and certification require accurate prediction of strength and durability under flight and ground loads. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) remains the industry standard for internal load redistribution, damage tolerance, and stress–strain evaluation.

Abaqus on the **3D**EXPERIENCE platform supports **linear and non-linear analysis** with:

- **Advanced material models** and large-scale fastener representation
- **Best-in-class contact and mechanical interaction modeling**
- Proven method, including **load case superposition**, **sub-structuring**, and **VCCT** for strength and durability assessment

[Strength and Integrity](/media/22862)

Aerospace Fasteners & Mechanically Fastened Connections

Analysis of mechanically fastened connections in aerospace structures requires automation and ideation to balance scale with predictive accuracy. Finite element analysis remains the dominant technique for strength and integrity predictions.

- **Point and Assembled Fastener Technology in Abaqus**: Sets the industry benchmark for fastener modeling and analysis.
- **3D**EXPERIENCE Platform: Enhances MODSIM capabilities with:
    - Automation, design traceability, and associativity.
    - Fastener locations and simulation attributes driven by upstream design specifications.
    - Management of multiple fastener ideations to meet varying analysis requirements.

[Aerospace Fasteners](/media/22863)

Composite Materials & Structures

The drive for lightweight aerospace structures has increased the use of composites, requiring careful integration of manufacturability and performance. Early design phases benefit from efficient macroscopic ideations, with higher model fidelity introduced as designs mature.

- **Abaqus and Abaqus/CAE**: Provide robust simulation for layered and non-layered composites, addressing non-linearity, advanced failure criteria, and delamination.
- **Composites Modeler for Abaqus/CAE**: Enhances ply modeling, ensures manufacturable designs, and integrates analysis, design, and manufacturing.
- **3D**EXPERIENCE Platform: Elevates MODSIM capabilities with multidisciplinary integration, design traceability, and reuse. It supports:
    - Seamless consumption of composite design data from CATIA.
    - Exploration and sizing of composite cell arrangements for initial design proposals.

[Composite Materials & Structures](/media/22864)

## (SIMULIA A&D Defense Aircraft Design IPE)Industry Processes for Commercial Aircraft Design

## (Defense Aircraft Design Marketing Asset WOC)Start Your Journey

The world of Commercial Aircraft Design is changing. Discover how to stay a step ahead with SIMULIA.

(Defense Aircraft Design)Also Discover

[Defense Aircraft Design](/products/simulia/aerospace-defense/defense-aircraft-design)

[Aerospace & Defense](/industries/aerospace-defense)

Classic Landscape

FAQs about Commercial Aircraft Design

What are the primary considerations in modern commercial airplane design?

Modern commercial airplane design balances safety, performance, and operational costs. Engineers focus on aerodynamic efficiency to reduce drag and lower fuel use, while selecting advanced materials to ensure structural integrity. SIMULIA play a key role by enabling teams to optimize aerodynamic performance and verify structural integrity through advanced virtual testing. Passenger comfort remains a priority throughout the design process.

How do engineers ensure fuel-efficient aircraft performance?

Engineers achieve fuel-efficient aircraft by refining aerodynamics—such as optimizing wing shapes—and selecting advanced propulsion systems like high-bypass turbofan engines. SIMULIA supports this process by providing advanced simulation tools that accurately predict aerodynamic performance and assess propulsion integration, enabling teams to reduce drag, enhance lift, and lower overall fuel consumption.

How are commercial airplanes tested for safety and compliance?

Before entering service, commercial airplanes undergo extensive virtual simulations and physical testing. With SIMULIA, engineers can validate design safety and compliance through advanced modeling, while ground and flight tests confirm reliability and adherence to global aviation standards.

What innovations are driving sustainable aviation forward?

**Sustainable aviation** is advancing through the use of alternative fuels, electric and hybrid-electric propulsion, and hydrogen technologies. SIMULIA enables engineers to simulate and validate these innovations with precision, supporting the industry’s move toward lower emissions and a net-zero future.

How do manufacturers address airplane noise regulations?

Manufacturers meet airplane noise regulations by using SIMULIA's aeroacoustic simulations to identify and reduce noise sources in aircraft design. The platform enables engineers to refine engine acoustics, incorporate optimized liners, and adjust fan blade geometry, ensuring quieter performance and compliance with international standards.

Why is aerodynamic efficiency critical for commercial flights?

**Aerodynamic efficiency** is maximized through the use of SIMULIA’s advanced simulation tools, which allow engineers to analyze airflow, optimize surface designs, and validate performance improvements before physical prototyping.

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