Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CONCERTO (Construction Of Novel CERTification methOds and means of compliance for disruptive technologies)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2023-07-01 do 2023-12-31
Aviation's safety standards have evolved steadily, but the certification process is slow and costly. New technologies could help reduce emissions, but they need new rules and regulations.
The CONCERTO project is exploring novel certification methods and means of compliance for disruptive technologies. The project aims to develop a comprehensive set of regulations on certification, together with a preliminary description of Methods of Compliance (MoCs) applicable to the three "thrusts" of Clean Aviation (Hybrid electric regional aircraft, Ultra-efficient short and short-medium range aircraft, Disruptive technologies to enable hydrogen-powered aircraft).
The project will also assess the feasibility of a digital certification framework to support collaboration and model-based certification.
The project is closely coordinated with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The collaboration aims to achieve a 30% reduction in Time to Market (TTMR) and a 30% cost reduction in certification, while ensuring compatibility with Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6) at the aircraft level before the conclusion of the Clean Aviation program.
The ultimate goal is to achieve Entry Into Service (EIS) by 2035, prioritizing safety as the overarching requirement throughout the development and certification process.
The CONCERTO project is exploring novel certification methods and means of compliance for disruptive technologies. The project aims to develop a comprehensive set of regulations on certification, together with a preliminary description of Methods of Compliance (MoCs) applicable to the three "thrusts" of Clean Aviation (Hybrid electric regional aircraft, Ultra-efficient short and short-medium range aircraft, Disruptive technologies to enable hydrogen-powered aircraft).
The project will also assess the feasibility of a digital certification framework to support collaboration and model-based certification.
The project is closely coordinated with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The collaboration aims to achieve a 30% reduction in Time to Market (TTMR) and a 30% cost reduction in certification, while ensuring compatibility with Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6) at the aircraft level before the conclusion of the Clean Aviation program.
The ultimate goal is to achieve Entry Into Service (EIS) by 2035, prioritizing safety as the overarching requirement throughout the development and certification process.
During the first year of the project, interfaces have been established with other pillars of Clean Aviation and relevant external projects related to the topics addressed in CONCERTO. This effort resulted in one of the main achievements of 2023: the synthesis of CONCERTO WPs needs and the establishment of a "light" collaboration agreement with linked projects, accompanied by the mapping of external projects to be interfaced with CONCERTO.
When contemplating the measurement of CONCERTO's impact, the traditional Technology Readiness Level (TRL) proved irrelevant. This is because CONCERTO's focus is not on developing technology but on enhancing the maturity of regulations for emblematic technologies. Consequently, the TRL scale was set aside, and a new scale was introduced: Certification Readiness Level. This scale starts from the familiarization of the technology with the EASA and covers all the way up to the certification of the final product. Once completed it is planned to be one of the main achievements for 2024.
During this year, the digital certification framework activities implemented a methodology derived from Model Based Systems Engineering to structure the information related to digital transformation (called “System Thinking”). The main achievements of this activity have been the application of a methodology to align actors on “Who, Why and What to change”, and the convergence on the Ontology methodology.
The three Proof Of Concepts (PoCs) progressed well during this first year. The PoC Active Wing elaborated a generic concept model at aircraft level, integrating the active wing, and sufficient to support the safety and certifiability analysis. In addition, a generic concept of operation associated to this generic concept at aircraft level will also be elaborated. Similar work has been performed by the other PoCs H2 and HVD defining, in total, 3 generic concepts. Moreover, following the gap analysis, the different PoCs have developed Means of Compliance (MoC) to fill the identified regulatory gaps.
In the case of the PoC Active Wing, three different MoCs have been proposed: a downscaled Experimental Validation Aircraft (flight authorisation in progress), a complementary iron bird (ground test) and a digital twin.
Some good progress has also been made on the PoC H2. The overall plan for H2 storage was completed with an updated schedule and notable achievements.
In the case of the PoC HVD, they are progressing based on the HVD platform of HECATE.
When contemplating the measurement of CONCERTO's impact, the traditional Technology Readiness Level (TRL) proved irrelevant. This is because CONCERTO's focus is not on developing technology but on enhancing the maturity of regulations for emblematic technologies. Consequently, the TRL scale was set aside, and a new scale was introduced: Certification Readiness Level. This scale starts from the familiarization of the technology with the EASA and covers all the way up to the certification of the final product. Once completed it is planned to be one of the main achievements for 2024.
During this year, the digital certification framework activities implemented a methodology derived from Model Based Systems Engineering to structure the information related to digital transformation (called “System Thinking”). The main achievements of this activity have been the application of a methodology to align actors on “Who, Why and What to change”, and the convergence on the Ontology methodology.
The three Proof Of Concepts (PoCs) progressed well during this first year. The PoC Active Wing elaborated a generic concept model at aircraft level, integrating the active wing, and sufficient to support the safety and certifiability analysis. In addition, a generic concept of operation associated to this generic concept at aircraft level will also be elaborated. Similar work has been performed by the other PoCs H2 and HVD defining, in total, 3 generic concepts. Moreover, following the gap analysis, the different PoCs have developed Means of Compliance (MoC) to fill the identified regulatory gaps.
In the case of the PoC Active Wing, three different MoCs have been proposed: a downscaled Experimental Validation Aircraft (flight authorisation in progress), a complementary iron bird (ground test) and a digital twin.
Some good progress has also been made on the PoC H2. The overall plan for H2 storage was completed with an updated schedule and notable achievements.
In the case of the PoC HVD, they are progressing based on the HVD platform of HECATE.
For the impact monitoring, the transversal project CONCERTO deserves a special note, as it addresses novel certification methods and means of compliance for the disruptive technologies developed in the Clean Aviation programme. It is the first time in an European aviation research programme that certification issues are addressed so early and from the beginning of the technology development. This transversal project has issued a first draft definition of a CRL (Certification Readiness Level) scale, aiming at tracking the evolution in terms of maturity on the route to certification. This implies close collaboration with EASA, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Not only in CONCERTO, but every Clean Aviation project has been requested to include a specific budget for cooperation and exchanges with EASA in order to identify gaps in the current certification requirements and develop new means of compliance in order to accelerate time-to-market.