Simulation Based Certification
Before industrial products such as aircraft and road vehicles can be offered on the market by their manufacturer, they must first receive official approval. Manufacturers must demonstrate that their product complies with the applicable safety and environmental regulations. Obtaining this proof, which can take up to five years for aircraft, for example, is very time-consuming and costly for manufacturers.
Particularly on the part of industry, efforts are therefore being made to reduce the costs and risks associated with obtaining approval. At the same time, it is important to bring a new product onto the market as quickly as possible so as to have an advantage over the competition. With the help of Simulation Based Certification, proof of compliance, which is currently primarily demonstrated through complex physical ground, flight or driving tests, is increasingly being provided digitally.
The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is in a unique position to address the challenges of 'Simulation Based Certification'. It has been developing efficient software for use in High Performance Computing (HPC) for over 30 years and has the necessary large-scale research facilities with the advanced measurement technology needed for validation. The aim of the cross-sectoral Simulation Based Certification project is to further develop numerical simulation methods from the fields of aeronautics, space, energy and transport to a state in which they are accepted by regulatory authorities as a valid means of product verification.