数字孪生及其在航空航天中的应用

Digital twin, the link between the physical and digital worlds, has currently attracted extensive attention both at home and abroad. Through establishment of a digital model of a physical system, real-time monitoring of the system status, and driving of the dynamic model update to describe and forecast system behaviors more accurately, the online decision optimization and feedback control are realized. In this paper, analyses show that compared with a general simulation model, the digital twin has outstanding characteristics of being centralized, dynamic, and integral. The development of the digital twin requires the support of complex system modeling, sensing and monitoring, big data, dynamic data-driven analysis and decision, and software platform technology. In the field of aerospace, digital twin can be applied to the design, development, manufacturing, assembly, operation and maintenance of aircraft. This article focuses on a case of application of the airframe digital twin to life prediction and maintenance decision, which exhibits advantages of lower maintenance frequencies and maintenance costs compared with the periodic maintenance. Finally, a preliminary application framework of a ground accompanying flight system established for space stations and reusable spacecraft is demonstrated.