Altair

A detailed study conducted by a student from Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI in Spain highlighted the need for ecologically safe and sustainable products. While recycling plays an important role in the circular economy, many consumers don’t recycle for a variety of reasons, including lack of space, inconveniently located recycling centers and collection containers, or distrust and/or disbelief in the recycling process. Organizations needed a model that made recycling easier and more accessible for everyone.

On the e.Deorbit proposal, Airbus DS engineers addressed these concerns by using system modeling to simultaneously develop the mission requirements and architectures. They developed a SySML model that integrates the safety and architecture requirements, system capabilities, functional architecture, and concept of operations (CONOPS).Developing the architectures and requirements in parallel helped to validate the requirements at an earlier stage in the project, saving considerable time and money. While this approach was a major step forward, Airbus DS engineers recognized that its benefits were limited by the fact that the domain simulations required to support the development of the architectures were each run manually and separately by engineers responsible for a particular domain.The results from these simulations were later uploaded to a database and used as input parameters for the system model and other simulations.The performance of the entire system for a particular use case is not clear until each of the simulations involved is completed which takes days or weeks. Considerable time and effort are required to simulate the performance of the entire system for even a single case, limiting the number of cases that can be run in the architecture definition phase.This creates the potential for errors and unexpected interactions that cost considerable time and money to correct when they are discovered later during the detailed design stage.

GE Aviation, a renowned name in the aerospace industry, recognized the potential of 3D printing technology in transforming the sector. The primary challenge was to reduce the weight of the aerospace parts, which would directly impact the fuel costs. A lighter airplane would mean lower fuel consumption, leading to cost savings and a smaller carbon footprint. However, achieving this weight reduction without compromising the strength and functionality of the parts was a significant challenge. Traditional manufacturing methods were not able to provide the desired weight reduction while maintaining the required stiffness and strength of the parts. The challenge was to find a solution that could create strong, light, and functional aerospace parts.