Software chosen for Boeing project

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 29, 2007

Alenia Aeronautica is streamlining its entire product development process using FiberSIM to more quickly and efficiently manufacture large, complex composite aircraft parts.

Alenia Aeronautica, the largest Italian aerospace manufacturer, is using Vistagy's FiberSIM software as its specialised composites design tool on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner programme.

The company is streamlining its entire product development process using FiberSIM to more quickly and efficiently manufacture large, complex composite aircraft parts.

Alenia Aeronautica has more than 90 years of experience in the aerospace sector.

The company operates worldwide in the development of commercial and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and aerostructures, and is also active in the overhaul, maintenance and modification of military and civil aircraft.

Alenia engineers have used FiberSIM's Advanced Composite Engineering Environment (ACEE) to more efficiently and flexibly define composite parts within existing CAD systems while automating many of the repetitive design, simulation and manufacturing tasks to working with composites.

As a result, the company expects to shorten design cycle times and mitigate the potential for manufacturing errors while increasing its focus on design innovation, part performance and quality to meet all critical part specifications.

Engineers plan to leverage all FiberSIM ACEE features for their aircraft projects, including structural-based design tools for specifying laminate requirements, tools for generating zone transitions, ply boundaries, plybooks and variable offset surfaces, and smart darting and splicing capabilities - all critical aspects of the design and manufacturing processes for composite aircraft part production.

"Alenia Aeronautica consistently meets its customers' demands for reducing product development cycle times, and with Vistagy's FiberSIM, we expect to realise our engineering goals more quickly and efficiently than ever before", said Fabrizio Damiano, Manufacturing Engineer at Alenia Aeronautica.

"By sharing critical design information across the engineering chain, and automating our process from design and modelling through production, Alenia engineers can spend more time creating innovative products while minimising material waste and trial and error".

"We're pleased to partner with Vistagy and recognise the purchase of FiberSIM as a strategic and competitive advantage for our organisation".

"In the increasingly competitive aerospace industry, manufacturers must achieve 'time-to-part' quicker than their competitors and ensure absolute quality and compliance with product specifications".

"FiberSIM takes the guesswork out of meeting these goals", said Alex Edwards, General Manager, Europe at Vistagy.

"Leading manufacturers like Alenia Aeronautica are using FiberSIM as their specialised design environment for composite engineering to significantly improve their CAD-based product development process while reducing the inherent risks in designing innovative new products".