The optimization of an aircraft e.g. to minimize fuel consumption involves many disciplines, each with their own simulation tools. Many of these simulation tools require a precise modeling of the aircraft geometry. At the DLR, this task is performed by the software TiGL (TiGL Geometry Library), which generates a complete 3-dimensional geometric representation of the aircraft from a parametric geometry description. This includes both the outer geometry, which is exposed to the air flow, and the inner structural geometry, which is crucial for the load stability of the aircraft.
TiGL thus provides the interface between the parametric CPACS description of the aircraft and the simulation tools. TiGL offers functions for exporting the geometry to common CAD formats (IGES, STEP, VTK) as well as functions for calculating points and curves on the aircraft surface.
TiGL uses the OpenCASCADE CAD kernel to model the aircraft geometry with NURBS surfaces. The library also provides interfaces to many common programming languages such as C, C++, Python, Java and MATLAB. In addition, the TiGL software package includes the TiGL Viewer that enables also the visualization of the aircraft geometries and other CAD files.
Further information