Virtual engineering of multi-disciplinary applications and the significance of seamless accessibility of geometry data

The concept of virtual engineering (VEng) can be understood as a generalization of "multi-disciplinary problem solving", an ever more used term in scientific computing. An abstract space consisting of the physical, the geometrical, and the cost function directions, called CGP, is introduced. The VEng problem can be seen as a complex manifold embedded in this space. Common standard data formats, unified data access, as well as open, non-monolithic systems, are discussed. These contribute to smoothing the sharp edges and closing the gaps of the manifold. The significance of seamless accessibility of data is illustrated by means of the tightly coupled fluid-structure interaction in aero-elasticity.