The Emerging Potential of Digital Twin Technology in Aviation

"When I get an idea, I start right away to build it up in my mind. I do not rush into constructive work. I make improvements, I experiment, I run the device in my mind." Nikola Tesla’s words echo the very essence of digital twin technology, a concept now poised to reshape the aviation industry. The technology and approach allows companies to meticulously design, test, and refine a complex system, not in a physical workshop, but within the dimension of a computer simulation. This is the promise of the digital twin, a virtual replica of a physical asset or system, and its potential to revolutionize how we design, build, operate, and maintain aircraft.

What is a Digital Twin?

Digital twins are real-time digital representations of physical assets, mirroring their functionality and behavior. They use IoT sensors to collect data from the physical asset and transmit it to a software platform, providing a live view of the asset's status. AI and machine learning analyze this data to identify patterns and provide insights into performance, maintenance, and efficiency. Unlike simulations which are used for design and offline optimization, digital twins are more complex, interactive environments that update in real time and are used across the asset's lifecycle, from testing to decommissioning. A key difference is that simulations are not connected to a specific physical object, while digital twins are directly linked, providing a much more comprehensive and dynamic understanding of the real-world asset.

Where is it currently deployed?

Automotive manufacturing giants Toyota and BMW, have already embraced the transformative power of digital twins, realizing significant gains in cost-effective design and streamlined workflows. The aviation sector is really only beginning to scratch the surface of its potential. A digital twin serves a dual purpose, mirroring the present state of an aircraft or system and predicting its future behavior. This capability offers immense potential for enhancing efficiency, safety, and innovation across the entire aviation ecosystem.

To give you an example of how it can be deployed effectively, lets take a look at the challenges of designing or reconfiguring aircraft cabins, particularly in premium classes where the weight of seating and amenities can significantly impact fuel consumption. Digital twins can facilitate the simulations of various material choices, configurations, and even passenger load scenarios based on current aircraft to be reconfigured or entirely new designs. It allows engineers to optimize cabin layouts for both comfort and weight reduction and thereby, realizing fuel savings and improved aircraft performance without costly mock up mistakes and apply them to particular models with precision. The following real-world example may help illustrate my point. Swiss International Air Lines recently encountered issues with its newly designed first-class seats, which when installed actually made its Airbus A330s nose-heavy, requiring the addition of a metal balancing plate to be added to the rear of the aircraft – a costly workaround that could have potentially been avoided with the use of digital twin technology during the design phase and testing phases.

What are the potential benefits for the industry?

Digital twins, if more widely deployed in the industry, can transform how aircraft are designed, built, tested and maintained in ever improving and more efficient ways. For example, a digital factory model would allow manufacturers and OEM's to pinpoint production bottlenecks and optimize workflows for greater efficiency. A digital engine twin could constantly monitor performance, predict upcoming maintenance needs, and help airlines and lessors prevent costly downtime. Roll-Royce are innovating in this area and use digital twins to identify early any potential issues. The possible savings and operational benefits are clear for airlines here. For designers on the other hand, a digital replica of a research aircraft provides a virtual testbed for evaluating new technologies and exploring design modifications across a range of conditions, all before a physical prototype is ever built. This virtual testing environment also plays a key role in determining the necessary IT infrastructure to manage the massive amounts of data generated, including addressing critical concerns around data security and provenance.

Think of the possibilities and use cases!

The power of digital twins could also extend to proactive maintenance and operations. Using the digital twin approach operators can continuously analyze sensor data from real-world engines and compare them to historical performance and predictive models within its digital twin, maintenance crews can then anticipate potential issues proactively. This could potentially minimize delays, extend component lifespan, and dramatically improve operational efficiency on aggregate.

Airline and lessors have a significant potential to better manage their fleets with the aid of digital twins and thereby, getting the most out of the assets. Each aircraft with its digital counterpart, constantly updated with real-time data from onboard sensors. This allows for precise monitoring of everything from engine temperature and fuel consumption to subtle wing vibrations. The digital twin can then analyze this data to predict when a part might need replacement, enabling proactive maintenance and preventing costly disruptions. Currently technical administration and management at lessors are using a surprisingly manual process to track aircraft parts, and cycles for their fleets. Clearly, there is a business case for investing in the blockchain technologies, and digital twin concepts to manage their growing fleets. Think of it, some of these lessors and large airlines are operating fleets in excess of 1000+ aircraft, and constant marginal gains and preventative maintenance and overhaul would optimize their balance sheets and maximize the profitability of their assets. The news is good for customers and clients too, as these processes would lead to more reliable operations, and better design concepts.

The convergence of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and advanced data analytics is driving the evolution of digital twin technology. The future of aviation hinges on embracing these advancements to build a more connected, efficient, and sustainable industry.

There is ample opportunity for the aviation industry and in particular airlines and lessors to take a leaf out of the automotive industry playbook and adopt a more comprehensive digital twin strategy, encompassing not just the virtual model itself, but also the digital thread connecting it to real-world data, and the intelligent applications that extract valuable insights for operators and their teams.

by Noel Cox, Principal Aviation Consultant at avcox