VISTAGY, Inc., a provider of industry-specific engineering software and services, announced that Bombardier Aerospace (Toronto Stock Exchange: BBD) purchased SyncroFIT software to compress the time and improve the accuracy of assembly development for its commercial aircraft programs, beginning with the wing of the CSeries jetliner. Bombardier will use SyncroFIT to fully define and manage joints and interfaces between parts within complex assemblies, automate tedious calculations (such as fastener grip lengths), validate design rules, and produce bills of materials (BOMs).
Managing the engineering definition of complex airframe assemblies involves interrelated data for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of fasteners. Traditionally, this process has been handled manually, making it costly and difficult, especially when design changes are required. By automating this labor-intensive process, SyncroFIT substantially mitigates the time and cost inherent in manual processes.
In an initial test, Bombardier engineers were able to cut the time to define holes and fasteners on a complex composite wing subassembly by approximately 75% compared to the manual process previously used. The assembly consisted of 26 parts, 1,300 fasteners, and four fastener base families with 336 different diameter and length combinations, as well as a variety of washers and collars. SyncroFIT is now being used in the detail design phase of the CSeries aircraft wing, in which Bombardier expects to see similar results.
The purchase of SyncroFIT follows closely on Bombardier’s decision to standardize on VISTAGY’s FiberSIM composites engineering software for all its aircraft programs. Defining holes and fasteners is an especially critical issue for organizations that are developing composite aircraft because the variation in skin thickness drives the need for a wide array of fasteners and adds complexity to the design.
Pictured above is an example of an aircraft wing panel assembly being developed with VISTAGY’s SyncroFIT® software in a CAD modeling session. The software drastically improves the airframe assembly design process by managing the huge quantity of joints, fasteners and holes used in an airframe structure. In addition to significantly improving productivity, SyncroFIT also ensures adherence to design rules. The green and red status indications in the SyncroFIT window highlight in and out of specification conditions for rules such as edge distance, fastener pitch, and length to diameter ratios.
SyncroFIT enables airframe manufacturers to save time and create best-in-class products by providing a systems-based design approach that empowers engineers to better understand the impact of design decisions and engineering changes throughout the entire airframe development process. As a result, airframe manufacturers are able to focus on optimizing part designs while being confident that assembly definitions will be rapidly updated and design rule violations will be flagged immediately during times of continuous change.
VISTAGY
www.vistagy.com
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