The Protocol Programme: The Airbus Numerical Simulation and Design (ANSD) Project

Airbus is building a new generation of computer simulation tools to design aircraft that are lighter, quieter, and more fuel-efficient before a single part is built. Aircraft design today relies heavily on computer models that predict how air flows over wings and how structures behave under stress. Current simulation tools struggle to handle the full complexity of a modern aircraft—combining aerodynamics, structural loads, and thermal effects in a single, fast calculation. This project develops the underlying mathematics and software to make those integrated simulations possible. It focuses on three areas: better ways to generate the computational mesh that divides the air around an aircraft into calculable chunks; more efficient methods for representing the aircraft shape during optimisation; and a streamlined process that lets engineers run multidisciplinary trade-offs without manual hand-offs between separate teams. If successful, the tools will let Airbus engineers explore more design options earlier in the development cycle, catching performance problems before physical prototypes exist. The direct impact is on aircraft manufacturing—shorter development times, lower costs, and aircraft that burn less fuel. This is applied industrial research with a clear commercial target, not fundamental science.