Historical Perspective of the Development of Digital Twins

With modern advances in high-performance computing, design engineers have put a large focus on digital testing and simulations to inform new systems. In addition, recent market tendencies show a desire to reduce waste and for longer designed life. One major strategy used to meet these trends is the utilization of a digital twin. Digital twins are numerical analogues to physical systems such as aircraft, auto-mobiles, and power generation systems. With the wide applicability of the digital twin, an understanding of their development can give insight into the impact and direction of recent research. Understanding these advancements can also give confidence in both the technique of using a digital twin and the simulated predictions to various loading conditions. This chapter focuses on detailing the historical development of digital twins to the state-of-the-art research being done and specifically how it is relevant to the structural dynamics community.