BAE Systems Composite Structures, a supplier of composite components and assemblies for military and aerospace applications, has worked with VISTAGY, a USA based provider of industry-specific engineering software and services, for over a decade. It has used FiberSIM on programmes for Rolls Royce, Bell Helicopter, and Raytheon.
BAE Systems Composite Structures uses FiberSIM to reduce product development times and reduce costs by eliminating the processes for manually developing plies, creating templates and digitising flat patterns. FiberSIM-driven manufacturing processes also enable BAE Systems Composite Structures to reduce lay-up time and improve repeatability.
“The aerospace industry is very deadline-driven and FiberSIM helps us meet deadlines in a variety of ways,” explains Tim Stewart, manager of Manufacturing Engineering for US Combat Systems at BAE Systems Composite Structures.
“For instance, when an engineer begins a project, he really doesn’t know what he is going to be up against.Thanks to FiberSIM’s dependable and robust simulation capabilities, we know if there is going to be a problem well before a part hits the manufacturing floor, and that saves us a lot of time."
"Further, in the past, we had to wait for tooling to arrive before we could create flat patterns. That could take 12 to 16 weeks. With FiberSIM, we can create the flat patterns even before we see the tool so when it comes in, we’re ready to go.”
