BAE Systems Air, a multinational defense, security, and aerospace company, has chosen MSC’s Simufact Additive software for the simulation of metal AM components after a long assessment of major AM simulation tools. BAE Systems launched a new Product and Process Development Center in 2015, where they conducted trials of market-leading packages for the simulation of metal AM processes. At the end of the trial phase, Simufact Additive was chosen as the solution of choice to deliver results and gain confidence. Furthermore, BAE Systems uses MSC Software products such as MSC Nastran, Patran, and MSC Apex, adding a big bonus, keeping the process simulation chain in mind.
“For MSC Software, BAE Systems Air is a great partner because it shows that we offer best-in-class solutions and with our MSC One product token system, a complete portfolio of solutions can easily be deployed that works hand in hand with BAE’s applications,” Paolo Guglielmini, CEO MSC Software added.
Reduce the number of build trials
Aircraft manufacturing is undergoing a shift towards higher variety, more specification requirements and lower batch volumes, rather than orders being placed for hundreds of aircraft at a time. Aircraft manufacturers have to consider orders with a batch size of ten or twenty. This change drives the need to manufacture components for aircraft differently, with additive manufacturing being a key technology enabler to meet customer demands. While manufacturing components additively, BAE Systems must face the main challenges of residual stresses and distortions. Prior to employing simulation software, BAE Systems had to complete 5-6 build trials in some cases, which are costly and time-consuming.
Using simulation, builds can now be reduced to two per component with the future opportunity to a “right first time” approach. At this stage, they are pleased that Application Engineers will use the MSC Software solution, which enables them to create the build preparation of a component in order to get the best orientation and support strategies for a particular build. Employing Simufact Additive, BAE Systems is now able to reduce the distortion in components by more than 70% at the first iteration step.
“We are proud that one of the largest defense contractors in Europe, and a company that is among the world’s largest defense entities, decided on Simufact Additive to roll out their additive manufacturing processes. The trust BAE have put in us reinforces our approach and the great work being done by our development team,” says Dr. Hendrik Schafstall, Simufact´s CEO and Managing Director.
Leave A Reply