SILOET Project 2 - Integrated Decision Support: Validation Tools

Wind tunnel tests and real-world measurements are now being used to check whether computer simulations of jet engines and aircraft components are actually accurate. Current simulation tools often fail to predict how new engine designs will behave under extreme heat, pressure, or stress. This forces engineers to build costly physical prototypes and run extensive tests, or to accept designs that are heavier, less efficient, or shorter-lived than they could be. The gap between what simulations promise and what they deliver costs the aerospace industry millions in wasted fuel, delayed projects, and missed environmental targets. This project aims to close that gap. Researchers will develop and validate five specific simulation capabilities: automated meshing for complex shapes, advanced computational fluid dynamics for unsteady airflow, large-scale structural and dynamic modelling, life prediction for components under repeated stress, cost modelling for manufacturing, and high-temperature instrumentation to gather real-world validation data. If successful, the tools will let engineers design lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft engines and gas turbines with confidence, without building as many physical prototypes. The impact is largely industrial and environmental—fewer test flights, lower carbon emissions, and faster development cycles for next-generation propulsion systems. The public will see the result in quieter, cheaper flights and reduced aviation emissions, but the work itself happens inside computer clusters and test cells.