Airbus Commercial Picks Altair SimSolid in Sustainable Aircraft Effort

Altair announces that Airbus Commercial has selected Altair SimSolid simulation technology that performs structural analyses on fully featured CAD assemblies in minutes, in its ZEROe global initiative, which aims to create a zero-emission commercial aircraft. 

“Altair SimSolid is the premier simulation technology for engineers, designers, analysts, and manufacturers. It eliminates geometry preparation and meshing, which are the two most time-consuming, expertise-extensive, and error-prone tasks in conventional structural simulations,” says Sam Mahalingam, chief technology officer, Altair. “Airbus choosing Altair SimSolid further solidifies Altair as a leader in worldwide sustainability initiatives and continues the two companies’ long and fruitful history of successful collaboration.”

Altair SimSolid was selected because it has shown that it will reduce elementary part analysis delivery times from days to minutes, and cuts complex assembly delivery times from several months to less than 1 week in some cases, according to the companies. Additionally, Altair SimSolid’s intuitive, easy-to-implement operations and interface lets users work without needing to clean geometry or prepare models beforehand, Altair notes. Altair SimSolid also allows Airbus’s design and engineering teams to explore more design iterations in shorter timeframes, which will expedite project timelines and deliver sustainable innovations quicker. 

“By using Altair SimSolid, our teams can explore more design possibilities in a simple, easy-to-implement environment,” says Christophe Brand, head of airframe methods and tools, Airbus Commercial. “By not requiring our teams to clean geometries beforehand, Altair SimSolid helps us significantly reduce delivery times and build better products. With it, we look forward to building the future of zero-emission aircraft technology.”

The ZEROe project aims to create a hydrogen propulsion-powered commercial airline fleet and enables Airbus to explore various configurations and hydrogen technologies. Airbus is working towards a mature technology readiness level for a hydrogen-combustion propulsion system by 2025.

To learn more about Airbus’s ZEROe global initiative, click here. To learn more about Altair SimSolid and Altair’s aerospace expertise, click here. 

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

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