Airbus accelerates wing designs with the help of software platforms

The aircraft maker's Wing of Tomorrow program leverages 3DEXPERIENCE tools to cut months from the development cycle.

The Wing Technology Development Centre’s goal is to develop a menu of technology solutions that can feed new wing designs. (Image: Airbus / Neil Phillips Photo and Film Ltd.)

Airbus is reinventing the wing to make it fit for the age of carbon-neutral aviation. The company’s engineers are taking advantage of a 3D digital “co-architecture” environment that enables them to optimize the wing design and the manufacturing process in one go.

Since 2016, teams at the European aerospace giant’s Wing Technology Development Centre (WTDC) in Filton, U.K., have been playing with unconventional ideas that could change how aircraft-makers approach wing design. Pressed by the need to eliminate the carbon footprint of aviation by 2050, in line with international commitments to fight climate change, Airbus is experimenting with lighter composite materials to reduce weight. The company also wants to make wings longer and leaner to increase lift and lower fuel consumption. The goal of the research program, called the Wing of Tomorrow, is to offer a menu of different technology solutions “to enable the development of the next-generation wings,” Airbus says. The work has already produced results, and the first demonstrators are being built to undergo testing next year.

Yann Lewis, the Wing of Tomorrow’s head of engineering, says Airbus has built the demonstrators using a novel approach that relies on advanced digital tools allowing engineers, designers and manufacturing experts to interact with each other in the same 3D digital environment in real time.

Read the full article on engineering.com:

https://www.engineering.com/airbus-accelerates-wing-designs-with-the-help-of-software-platforms/