Software contributes to Dreamliner design

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 7, 2005

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace Company (KHI) in Kakamigahara City, Japan, is using FiberSIM 5.0 software to design and manufacture several fuselage sections of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace Company (KHI) in Kakamigahara City, Japan, is using FiberSIM 5.0 software to design and manufacture several fuselage sections of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as well as smaller parts for the aircraft.

"FiberSIM's specialised functionality could help to drastically reduce the time and risk involved in both designing and manufacturing the Boeing 787, and is a good fit with the product development processes defined by both KHI and Boeing", says Masahiko Yokota, Senior Staff Officer, Space Systems and Commercial Aircraft Project Engineering Department for KHI Aerospace Company.

"KHI worked closely with us over the last 12 months to develop new, innovative capabilities in FiberSIM 5.0", says Steven C Luby, President and CEO of Vistagy.

"Powerful new features such as FiberSIM's grid-based design methodology enable KHI engineers to work more quickly and reliably with large-scale aerostructures such as the Boeing 787 fuselage sections".

KHI Aerospace Company is the leading producer of aerospace composite parts in Japan.

The company designs and manufactures components for Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, and for the Japanese CX/PX cargo and maritime patrol planes.

Because the Boeing 787 has the largest all-composite fuselage ever created, designing and manufacturing the fuselage sections present unique and complex challenges.

KHI is using the Advanced Composite Engineering Environment and other FiberSIM tools throughout their entire composite design and manufacturing process to overcome these challenges.

In particular, KHI plans to use FiberSIM to automatically generate the data needed by fibre placement and tape laying machines used for manufacturing the Boeing 787 fuselage sections.