ToQuaFlics - Quantum computing for the aviation of the future
ToQuaFlics - Quantum computing for the aviation of the future
Fast simulations through the use of quantum computers
The ToQuaFlics project is investigating how flow around aircraft can be simulated more efficiently and faster with quantum computers than with conventional supercomputers and what requirements the hardware must fulfil for this.
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DLR. All rights reserved.
A central component for the digitization of aviation at DLR is the virtual product.It aims to comprehensively simulate and design aircraft on the computer.The topic covers almost all aspects of the life cycle of an aircraft: from the digital design and virtual certification to the digital twin, from the flight characteristics to ecological aspects.The implementation of the concept enables significant cost reduction and efficient design of new aircraft or aircraft configurations and also the integration of new drive concepts accompanied by noise reduction.All of these are necessary steps in the development of new aircraft in order to be able to meet societal requirements and ambitious climate goals.
In order to be able to assess the characteristics of a new aircraft as early as possible in the development process, a large number of computer simulations are required, which are almost impossible to carry out even on today's high-performance computers. The simulations of the various flight conditions are based on solving complex mathematical equations that describe the interaction between the surrounding air and the aircraft. Traditionally, these equations are approximated numerically in an approximate form and solved on increasingly finely subdivided computational grids. A simulation becomes more expensive the more finely the flow area is subdivided. To solve this dilemma, the ToQuaFlics project is pursuing an approach that combines machine learning and quantum computing methods.
The scientists at the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology are investigating whether and how the potential of quantum computers can be used to further develop digitalisation in aviation at DLR in order to make the way aircraft are designed, built and operated in the future more efficient than today. Strategically, the project aims to create a network between the aviation industry and its interests for the use of quantum computers in the simulation of compressible flows on the one hand, and a suitable environment for the development of suitable hardware and software in an agile, scientific environment on the other.
