CAE software saves weight for super jumbo
An
Altair Engineering product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 12, 2003
Virtual engineering design, spearheaded in the automotive industry, has now been deployed in the aircraft industry by Altair Engineering with startling success.
Virtual engineering design, spearheaded in the automotive industry, has now been deployed in the aircraft industry by Altair Engineering with startling success.
The leading edge wing section of the massive new Airbus A380 incorporates an innovative design developed by BAE Systems' Aerostructures business using Altair's computer aided engineering (CAE) software.
The result has been an enormous mass saving of 500kg from a small part of the wing assembly and the delivery of the product within a very tight time schedule.
"The increasingly aggressive weight targets and shortening development timescales in the civil aircraft industry require a new approach to aircraft design", said Royston Jones, Managing Director of Altair Engineering.
"At Altair we have developed a suite of highly sophisticated computer aided engineering software, including the Altair OptiStruct optimisation tool, which we have applied with great success for clients in the automotive industry and a range of other sectors worldwide.
This application, in what will be the world's largest commercial airliner, the Airbus A380, demonstrates the power of our software and our innovative approach.
Our concepts and technologies are also relevant to designers across many sectors and in the coming months, we will be introducing our approach to designers in the defence, white goods and packaging industries".
Altair's OptiStruct CAE software significantly reduces the need for the production of working prototypes throughout the design process.
Instead it develops computer prototypes which can be subjected to virtual tests - giving accurate results rapidly and enabling cost savings.
Conventional design processes tend to consume much time at an early stage studying different design alternatives.
In contrast, OptiStruct CAE software performs a topology optimisation - a mathematical technique that produces an optimum shape and material distribution for any structure within a given design space.
With this, the wing designers at Aerostructures were very quickly able to establish an initial design with optimal load paths.
This topology design was then refined using detailed sizing and shape optimisation techniques.
The Altair OptiStruct approach, proven with clients in the automotive industry, quickly generated optimised components for stiffness, stress and vibration designs for the Airbus wing section.
Following delivery to Airbus at Broughton, Wales, the structure is assembled together with the other A380 wing components into complete wings and transported to the final aircraft assembly line in Toulouse, France.
The 555-seater, fuel-efficient airliner will be the world's only twin-deck, four-aisle aircraft and is expected to enter service in 2006.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Google Ads
Contact Altair Engineering
Related Stories
- Renault deploys Dassault V6 PLM
- DS acts as technical client for university project
- Controlair selects CDS Catalog and Modelserver
- Simulator receives FAA qualification
- Modelling research funded by Noble Denton
Articles by product category
- Consultancy and Services (903)
- Machine Building (4,517)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,179)
- Engineering Design Software (12)
- 2D CAD software (200)
- 3D CAD software (1,157)
- FEA and structural analysis software (369)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (914)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (196)
- Materials design and moulding design software (151)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (258)
- Electrical design software (164)
- Publishing and documentation software (229)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (317)
- Data, document management software (310)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (568)
- File conversion software, data capture (351)
- PLM and collaboration software (649)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,361)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Precision Motors and Gears (411)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,276)
- Linear Drives and Motors (114)
- Industrial Motors (497)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,060)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,975)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,028)
- Plantwide control (1,324)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,174)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (387)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (184)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (201)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (562)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (294)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (806)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,459)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (494)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (472)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (630)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (703)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (440)
- Data loggers (422)
- Materials testing equipment (421)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (154)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (500)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,222)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,160)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (555)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (679)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (709)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (420)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (798)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (369)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (630)
-
Materials and Processing (2,963)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials and components (2,215)
- Rapid Prototyping (458)
- Materials processing and testing (285)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,093)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (562)
- Engineering Conferences (425)
- Engineering Seminars (400)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (633)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (349)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Training Courses (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (838)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (113)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (175)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (277)
-
Powertrain Design (3,598)
- Powertrain Design (2)
- Bearings (939)
- Chains and belts (326)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,441)
- Hydraulic Components (471)
- Lubricants (418)
-
Capital Equipment (3,387)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (62)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (510)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,093)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (930)
-
Sensors (7,080)
- Sensors (8)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (427)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (699)
- Pressure sensors (621)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (618)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (527)
- Linear Position Sensors (399)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (546)
- Proximity Sensors (700)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (284)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (152)
- Temperature sensors (612)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,384)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,623)
