Model-based Systems Analysis and Engineering Phase I Overview: Defining Aspiring Standards for the Next Generation of MDAO Collaboration

This paper provides an overview of the results of the Model-Based Systems Analysis and Engineering (MBSA&E) Phase I program funded by NASA, which aims to support NASA’s Phase I efforts developing their MBSA&E framework while also addressing industry-wide problems inherent in building, maintaining and collaborating with MBSA and MBSE models internal to and between organizations. This work proposes open standards for systems analysis and systems engineering solutions to improve collaboration and modeling best practices between organizations when executing design activities. Key results to further these goals include the development of a comprehensive Aircraft Data Hierarchy (ADH) for storing and persisting configuration data, a standard interface for integrating disciplinary models and storing Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) workflow information, effective model sharing processes that protect intellectual property while enhancing collaboration, and an aircraft benchmark exercise to assess NASA’s MBSA&E tool against industry equivalents, compare results, and offer feedback. The software products from this work including the ADH, standard interface, and MBSE-ADH connector are all available open-source on GitHub. The model sharing process is described in detail in its own paper. These activities, including a benchmarking activity, were tested successfully on NASA’s MBSA&E framework, developed in Aviary and OpenMDAO, as the first use case. These advancements are expected to facilitate a more cohesive aerospace design ecosystem, ultimately leading to more efficient and innovative aircraft development for the NASA MBSA&E model and other industry equivalents. Outside of NASA, this work is a starting place to begin a wider discussion and collaboration with the broader aerospace industry to grow, mature, and perpetuate these aspiring standards.