Technology Category
- Drones - Multirotor Drones
- Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Applicable Industries
- Aerospace
- Equipment & Machinery
Applicable Functions
- Maintenance
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Manufacturing Process Simulation
- Time Sensitive Networking
Services
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
The Boeing Company is a century-old aerospace organization that is the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer. It is known for its understanding and application of current and emerging technologies to improve the capabilities of existing products and deliver new solutions to meet changing customer needs. Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business unit is responsible for the design and manufacture of rotorcraft, aircraft that are kept airborne by airfoils that rotate around a vertical axis. The IDS unit is continuously working to refine these designs to reduce weight and enhance affordability, reliability, and manufacturing efficiency.
The Challenge
Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business unit, the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer, was faced with the challenge of refining rotorcraft designs to reduce weight and enhance affordability, reliability, and manufacturing efficiency. The design of rotorcraft, aircraft kept airborne by rotating airfoils, is a complex balance of form and function. The primary goal is to provide maximum functionality at the lowest overall weight. Weight affects the rotor's capacity for vertical lift, which in turn affects the aircraft's range and ability to fly at safe altitudes. However, reducing weight can also make the aircraft a more survivable target for ground fire. Additionally, the stiffness of the airframe needs to be tuned to reduce vibration, which affects passenger stamina, weapons use, airframe durability, and onboard electronics operation. This is also a weight-related issue. Every pound saved is an opportunity for additional improvements in efficiency, performance, ballistic tolerance, soldier survivability, maintenance, and repairability.
The Solution
Boeing turned to design optimization technology to meet these challenges. They used Altair OptiStruct, a software that designs and optimizes the performance of mechanical structures by defining the best material distribution for a given design space, target mass, and method of manufacture for a given set of objectives and constraints. This software enabled engineers to develop robust, efficient designs that have a higher probability of success in a shorter period of time, compared to the time-consuming trial-and-error approach. For example, using OptiStruct topology optimization technology, the engineers produced a new open truss structure for the ramp of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift transport helicopter. The new design was stiffer than the original while realizing a 17 percent weight savings. The open truss structure also increased the ramp's ballistic tolerance because the reduced volume of the new design presents a sparser target than more dense webs and stiffeners.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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