Sikorsky aircraft doubles FiberSIM™ capacity

Citation

(2002), "Sikorsky aircraft doubles FiberSIM™ capacity", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774dab.012

Sikorsky aircraft doubles FiberSIM™ capacity

Keywords: Aircraft, Software, Design, Automation

VISTAGY, Inc., has reported the purchase of FiberSIM 3.4 software by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of Stratford, Conneticcut. The purchase supports Sikorsky's Process Tools 2000 initiative to expedite and automate design processes. The new licenses will double the capacity for FiberSIM at Sikorsky, from about 200 to 400 users. Sikorsky will conduct trade studies with the software to evaluate the conversion from metal parts to composite materials on the upgraded Black Hawk UH-60M helicopter (Plate 13).

Plate 13 View of a simulation result generated using FiberSIM to simulate the layup of a woven composite ply over a complex surface. This surface represents a tool used for fabricating a helicopter shroud. The green line designates the ply boundary, while the blue and yellow lines represent the true orientation of fibers within the ply. FiberSIM illustrates how woven and unidirectional materials distort during layup, thereby identifying potential manufacturing issues. The software shows that while most of the ply will exhibit little or no distortion (blue), the complex curvature of the part causes areas of mild distortion (yellow) during lay-up. If distortion had been more severe, FiberSIM would have illustrated areas of wrinkling or bridging in red. Understanding distortion and fiber orientation is of primary importance in producing composite parts because it enables the design of producible parts that will satisfy structural specifications. FiberSIM allows designers to assess true fiber orientations, while identifying potential manufacturing problems before the part is released from engineering for production

The Black Hawk helicopter has flown in virtually every American conflict since 1983. Its missions include search and rescue, medevac, troop transport, special operations insertion, and supply delivery. All parts on the airframe of the Black Hawk must meet stringent battlefield survivability and crashworthiness requirements.

Using FiberSIM, engineers at Sikorsky will design composite parts and confirm their suitability as replacements for sheet metal and steel components of the Black Hawk airframe. FiberSIM 3.4 incorporates improved automation tools that enhance design definition and increase productivity. The new software will also be part of the ongoing design effort on the Comanche helicopter.

"For over ten years, FiberSIM has been essential to our standard procedure for product designs," says Joe Goldberg, manager of Advanced Design Processes. "The software has consistently saved us design time and helped improve manufacturability. The new tools in FiberSIM 3.4 will extend those savings."

FiberSIM software is reported to be instrumental in the design and production of composite parts at most major commercial and military aerospace manufacturers. FiberSIM tools are said to automate the design process, assess the producibility of a part, and generate manufacturing information to interface with automated cutters, laser projectors, and fiber placement machines. The software reportedly enables users to drive all aspects of preliminary design, analysis, detailed design, and manufacturing from within the CAD environment. XML tools in FiberSIM are also said to allow engineers to share design data with other applications throughout the enterprise, such as software for procurement, quality assurance and manufacturing.

Sikorsky first purchased FiberSIM more than eight years ago for use in manufacturing engineering on the Comanche helicopter. The company subsequently used the software in development of the S-92 helicopter. Over time, and through the Rotary Wing Structures Technology Demonstration (RWSTD) program, the role of FiberSIM has broadened to include all composite design and manufacturing projects at Sikorsky.

Details available from: VISTAGY, Inc. Tel: +1 781 290 0506.