Surface models prove Airbus aerodynamics
An
ICEM product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jun 13, 2005
The ICEM Surf software suite has played a key role in the design development of the world's largest passenger airliner, the new Airbus A380.
The ICEM Surf software suite has played a key role in the design development of the world's largest passenger airliner, the new Airbus A380.
At the Airbus site in Toulouse, France, ICEM Surf was used extensively in the design development of the A380's engine pylons and nacelles integration, while other Airbus sites used it in the design development of the aircraft's belly fairing.
In the company's aerodynamics design and data department, aerodynamics engineers, who are responsible for validating and then delivering the model data for an aircraft's external surfaces, used ICEM Surf to generate high-quality surface models of the A380's engine pylons and nacelles integration, using design data of the aircraft structure imported from other systems as a reference.
This enabled them to ensure that no physical interferences occurred between the external surfaces and their underlying structures.
The ICEM Surf surface models were then exported to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis software for aerodynamic behaviour analysis.
Any modifications to the surface models required as a result of this analysis were carried out in ICEM Surf, before the final surface model data was uploaded into the Catia master geometry model and digital mockup of the aircraft.
This use of ICEM Surf on the A380 project allowed better control during the design process and resulted in better quality, from a lofting standpoint, in the final designed surfaces.
The ability that the software gave the team to create the necessary surface models within the context of the aircraft structure, taking full account of the engineering "hard-points", was a major contributor to an improvement in design process efficiency and a higher quality of final design.
The new Airbus A380 recently made its maiden flight and is due to begin commercial operations in 2006.
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