Finmeccanica Leonardo Implements Digimat VA

Finmeccanica Leonardo is using MSC Software’s Digimat VA to predict failure behavior of composite structural airframe components by generating a calibrated material allowable solution.

According to a company press release, Finmeccanica and e-Xstream worked together to perform filled-hole tension and compression tests in Digimat-VA. Comparison to test showed that for the prediction of B-basis filled-hole allowables, the Digimat-VA simulation was within 8% for the tension case and within 3% for the compression case. These very good results confirmed that the filled-hole model is robust within VA as a new feature referring to the standard ASTM D6742.

“Digimat VA reduces the number of coupon tests for material qualification, accelerates the trade-off studies in the down-selection process for certifying new materials and improves aircraft performance by identifying the critical material and manufacturing variables to maximize material performance for a given application,” said Salvatore Russo, Engineering and Industrialization/New Airframe Technologies in Finmeccanica Leonardo. “The introduction of a dedicated computer-aided environment, such as Digimat VA, in regulations can have clear benefits in terms of reduction in coupon tests by more than 65%.”

For more information, visit Finmeccanica Leonardo.

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