Description / Abstract:
All trends indicate that composite structures are becoming an
increasingly large percentage of modern airframes. Because of this,
airframes are becoming both more efficient and more complex. This
is due in large part to the fact that composite aircraft assemblies
have huge volumes of highly interdependent design information.
Creating the initial designs and making subsequent changes to these
complex aerostructures is both time-consuming and error-prone. In
this article you will learn how a tightly integrated suite of
software for aerostructure development greatly increases design and
manufacturing efficiency of today's complex composite aircraft
assemblies.
In the aftermath of the first intensive, large scale, commercial
composite airfrme programs, exemplified by the Boeing 787
Dreamliner, many aircraft manufacturers are selecting carbon fiber
reinforced plastic (CFRP) as the structural material of choice for
the fuselage and/or wing of their next project. This is true for
all types and sizes of commercial airplanes, including large,
regional, business and general aviation aircraft. In this
transitional period into a new age for the aerospace industry,
lessons on composite engineering and manufacturing must be
assimilated quickly to transform or adapt the overall development
process to this new reality. The complexity of the multiple
interactions between material choices, tooling selection, design
methodology and manufacturing processes must be understood in order
to devise the most robust and efficient approach.
In this article we describe how VISTAGY has been able to draw on
more than 15 years of leadership in composite design, and its close
association with the major actors of the global aerospace industry,
to propose a global and flexible product development approach for
composite airframe development.
The main ingredients of composite airframe development are
reviewed in the context of a CAD integrated specialized environment
including elements such as the overall fiber orientation strategy,
design methodologies such as concurrent design and stress
optimization and validation, design for the manufacturing process,
design for assembly, and quality control procedures.
Author(s):
Name: John O'Connor; Affiliation: VISTAGY, Inc.
Meeting Details:
Name: SAE AeroTech Congress and Exhibition
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Date: 11-10-2009