Dutch engineers adopt composite design package

The National Aerospace Laboratory NLR in the Netherlands has selected FiberSIM software for designing complex composite products and parts.

Vistagy, a leading global provider of specialised engineering software, today announced that the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR in the Netherlands has selected FiberSIM software for designing complex composite products and parts.

As a result, all NLR member organisations will have access to FiberSIM for developing and automating groundbreaking designs that can provide significant competitive advantages and increase the demand for composites in the aerospace industry.

The Automated Composites Manufacturing Technology Centre (ACM-TC) at the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR has pioneered many innovative fabrication technologies that have helped drive the use of composite parts in the aerospace industry in recent years.

Manufacturers apply NLR's research to enhance and automate their design and manufacturing processes.

ACM-TC engineers will use FiberSIM as their specialised composite design environment to more efficiently and cost-effectively create complex, preformed parts with reduced development risks, costs and cycle times.

"FiberSIM supports all the processes and methodologies NLR uses to create composite parts, but more importantly, it helps automate these processes so we can develop parts more quickly and affordably", said Bert Thuis, head of the Structures Technology Department at National Aerospace Laboratory NLR.

"Affordability and strength are primary drivers for the use of lightweight composite structures".

"FiberSIM's design features enable our engineers to reduce assembly and tooling costs while allowing them to create new, innovative designs that provide a competitive edge to our clients and members".

FiberSIM's ability to simulate how composite material conforms to complex curvature, as well as its capabilities for generating flat patterns and plybooks, helps automate design and manufacturing processes to reduce costs while ensuring parts meet all specifications.

FiberSIM's flat pattern technology enables design engineers to generate 2D flat patterns from 3D digital models.

These patterns are automatically shared downstream or exported to automated cutting or laser-projection machines, saving hours of manual trial-and-error when producing hundreds of composite plies per part.

In addition, engineers can define laminate ply sequences and generate 2D plybooks that ensure accurate lay-up of laminates to reduce the manual, labor-intensive and costly process of creating separate drawings.

"One of the biggest challenges for today's engineers is to design innovative products that are cost-effective to manufacture yet meet the demanding specifications of the aerospace industry".

"NLR's research is helping manufacturers strike that balance", said Alex Edwards, General Manager, Europe at Vistagy.

"We're proud that NLR is using FiberSIM to assess and establish new ways of developing composite parts that will drive the industry forward".

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