What is CPACS?

The Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema (CPACS) is a data definition for the air transportation system. CPACS enables engineers to exchange information between their tools. It is therefore a driver for multi-disciplinary and multi-fidelity design in distributed environments. CPACS describes the characteristics of aircraft, rotorcraft, engines, climate impact, fleets and mission in a structured, hierarchical manner. Not only product but also process information is stored in CPACS. The process information helps in setting up workflows for analysis modules. Due to the fact that CPACS follows a central model approach, the number of interfaces is reduced to a minimum.

Cite & Acknowledge

CPACS is available as Open Source and we encourage anyone to make use of it. If you are applying CPACS in a scientific environment and publish any related work, please cite the following artice:

M. Alder, E. Moerland, J. Jepsen and B. Nagel. Recent Advances in Establishing a Common Language for Aircraft Design with CPACS. Aerospace Europe Conference 2020, Bordeaux, France, 2020.

CPACS v3.5.1 published

Saturn V modelled in CPACS, tanks and feed systems visible through the outer shell Saturn V NASA’s Apollo Moon launcher, 1967–1973

CPACS v3.5.1 is out. Going by the version number this looks like a small patch, but it turned out to be a bit more than that. Three areas have been reworked: systems and fuelTanks, both introduced with v3.5 …

CPACS v3.5.1-RC2 available for review

CPACS v3.5.1-RC2 is available for community review. It continues the refinement work on top of CPACS v3.5 and follows the first release candidate published in May. While the overall release scope remains unchanged, the definition of predefined systemElements has been significantly elaborated based on the ongoing review …

CPACS v3.5.1-RC available for review

CPACS v3.5.1-RC is available for community review. It is a refinement release on top of CPACS v3.5, meant to stabilize and clarify the schema concepts introduced there before the final CPACS v3.5.1 release. The main updates affect three areas that were discussed with the CPACS …

20 Years of CPACS: Anniversary at DLRK 2024

dlrk2024

At the 73rd Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress (DLRK), held from 30 September to 2 October 2024 in Hamburg, the aerospace modeling community celebrated a major achievement: 20 years of CPACS (Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema). This anniversary marked two decades of progress in advancing standardized, parametric design approaches for complex …