Digital Twins — a Platform for Aircraft Engine Lifecycle Management

The article describes the general concept of digital twin (DT) of gas turbine engine (GTE) and methods of its application. A significant part of the digital twin is the requirement matrix (MoR), consisting of requirements for a gas turbine engine structured, formalized and transformed into a database. Considering the MoR, the groups of mathematical models of different degrees of complexity are introduced into the digital twin, allowing inspection of fulfilling requirements and predicting the engine operation. The digital twin is based on a digital platform uniting all its components, it organizes the interfaces between them, forms their hierarchy, stores the revision history and interacts with various databases (internal at the enterprise and external sector-specific ones), third-party digital platforms and services used at different life cycle stages, taking into account their specific features. The use of digital twin technology allows combining into a common information space the complete scope of requirements for the mathematical models being developed, various digital services and a variety of data created, received and used throughout the life cycle of a gas turbine engine. Such combination will increase transparency and understanding what happens to the engine at various stages of its life cycle, improve performance, reduce time for developing and certification, and reduce the prime cost of its production and operation.

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