FiberSIM® has the Right Stuff for Designing and Manufacturing Spacecraft
As composites have received growing acceptance in a variety of industries, including aerospace, the space industry has taken note. Whether it is a spacecraft, rocket or satellite systems, the space industry is relying more and more on composites.
Regardless of the application, achieving excellent manufacturing quality and part reliability is a top priority. Designs for space are often, if not always, very complex and challenging. The composite parts in space systems are often uniquely shaped and are submitted to multiple and complex loading conditions from thermal, aerodynamic, structural and acoustic conditions. Saving weight and optimizing performance is of paramount importance.
VISTAGY has been a leader in the composite design-to-manufacturing process for over 15 years and FiberSIM® composite engineering software has been used on many space programs. FiberSIM provides the necessary CAD integrated software tools necessary to reliably design and manufacture optimized composite structures.
FiberSIM’s close integration with finite element analysis (FEA) software enables a concurrent design and analysis process, which is critical to designing and optimizing parts for space systems. FiberSIM producibility simulation alerts the designers and manufacturing engineers early in the process to possible manufacturing issues, such as wrinkling and bridging, which might affect the integrity of the part, and its resistance to shock and fatigue. Engineers can easily and quickly evaluate trade-offs between structural properties, material utilization and maximum layup efficiency.
FiberSIM supports a seamless transfer of all design data to manufacturing for multiple processes, including manual layup, resin transfer molding, automated fiber placement (AFP) and tape laying (ATL).
With the new generation of launch vehicles and space tourism applications that are on the horizon, VISTAGY and FiberSIM are poised to play a leading role in space technology.
Learn more about FiberSIM. Contact us now.