RWSTD is a cooperative agreement between the Army and Sikorsky to reduce recurring and nonrecurring costs on military helicopters. As part of the project, Sikorsky engineers will redesign a portion of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter to demonstrate the technology developed during the project. Comanche, designed by the Sikorsky and Boeing in Philadelphia is the Army`s 21st century combat helicopter.
"CDT`s assignment will be to enhance their existing composite design software package, [FiberSIM], to provide a tighter link to computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools and incorporate design rule checking that will streamline the composite design process," says Bruce Kay, program manager for Sikorsky.
Kay says that Sikorsky selected FiberSIM because of its success with the software on previous projects. "We`ve used this tool for quite a while and we know it works," Kay says. "We felt that if it would serve as the ideal ply management platform for the RWSTD program."
On an earlier program, Sikorsky saved four months on the S-92 Helibus helicopter project by using the software package to detect wrinkling, bridging, and similar problems during the basic design phase so they could be fixed before they reached the shop floor, CDT officials say. — J.M.
For more information on FiberSIM or Composite Design Technologies contact Danielle O`Beirne by phone at 781-290-0506, by fax at 781-290-0507, by mail at 235 Wyman Street, Suite #110, Waltham, Mass. 02451-1219by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.cdt.com.
