Dassault Aviation's CFD-Stealth Department Speeds Aerodynamic Shape Design Process with think3

Integration of thinkdesign 3-D Software into Proprietary AMADEUS Design System Yields Powerful Solution for Shape Design & Mesh Generation

SANTA CLARA, California - July 11, 2001 - Mechanical design software upstart think3 today announced that the CFD (computational fluid design)-Stealth department of Dassault Aviation (Saint-Cloud, France), a world leader in aeronautics, is deploying new software - AMADEUS - in order to increase its productivity for aerodynamic and stealth shape design, due to its collaboration with think3.

think3's single-environment modeling software - thinkdesign - has been used as a basis for the development of Dassault Aviation's proprietary AMADEUS design system. AMADEUS essentially aims at pre-processing aircraft shapes from an aerodynamic/stealth point of view, including data import, specific geometry design and mesh generation.

According to Dominique Lemarie, AMADEUS Team Leader for Dassault Aviation, one of the major objectives is to reduce the time to pre-process an entire aircraft significantly. While in some cases about 30 days were necessary with the preceding pre-processing chain, the performance target with AMADEUS is to pre-process within just a few days.

Dassault Aviation has a half-century of experience and innovation in aeronautics. Established in 1945, the 9000-person organization designs and produces combat aircraft and has the distinction of being the only business jet manufacturer in Europe. More than 7000 civil and military aircraft have been delivered in 73 countries, on six continents, totaling 15 million flight-hours. Among the prestigious aircraft brands the company is best known for are the Falcon, Rafale and Mirage.

Applied Research Teams Set Out to Streamline Design Process & Reduce Costs

Five years ago, prior to its collaboration with think3 on AMADEUS, Dassault Aviation's applied research department used a proprietary shape modeler, David, designed to achieve fluid dynamic optimizations, in combination with a variety of other software products. This dispersion of software tools rendered the design process "long, tedious and painful," while the sharing of engineering data was difficult and many times much too time consuming.

"We believed that we could help lessen overall costs by migrating to one centralized piece of software that would be much more flexible to use," explains Florent Planchot, AMADEUS Team Leader. "The fewer the products, the fewer data transfers and translations. That helps reduce risk of errors. Fewer errors result in better, more accurate products."

With that goal in mind, the Amadeus team set out to find the right technology to create a brand new, single-system environment for aerodynamic/stealth shape design, capable of dealing with David-specific geometry and with CFD-meshes - up to several million nodes. "So, we began a year's worth of evaluating CAD products to determine if any could comply with our requirements," says Planchot. "We ended up selecting thinkdesign (formerly Eureka Gold from Cad.Lab) because it met most of our requirements and also because think3 was willing to closely work with us in order to add the specific geometric and mesh objects that we needed, both into the User Interface (UI) and the Application Programming Interface (API) of the modeler.

"Today, we simply open thinkdesign, which launches AMADEUS; a set of dialog boxes is then available to the user to work on shape design and mesh generation. We now have specific surface modeling, along with mesh generation in one system with which we can import model files (e.g. Catia files, IGES) coming from other departments."

Future of AMADEUS: Advance the Technology

Today, Amadeus software is under operational testing. AMADEUS Team intends to advance the technology to incorporate new functionality for pre- and post-processing. "The main goal is always to shorten the process chain," says Planchot. "So, if we can continue to incorporate new, advanced functionality into the product, we will not only save more time, but achieve more efficiently - and with a still increasing quality - the tasks related to aerodynamic/stealth pre-processing."

About Dassault Aviation

Established in 1945, DASSAULT AVIATION represents:

• Half a century of expertise and innovation in the field of aeronautics
• Constant investment in technological research and development
• Mastery of key aeronautical technologies and complex systems
• 7000 civil and military aircraft delivered to 73 countries in all six  continents, totalling 15 million flight hours
• Prestigious aircraft names: Falcon, Rafale, Mirage
• 9000 people throughout the world
• A healthy financial position with a 19 billion FRF turnover

These are the reasons why DASSAULT AVIATION is among world leaders in the field of aeronautics. DASSAULT AVIATION is not only capable of designing and producing combat aircraft, it is also the only business jet manufacturer in Europe.

Dassault Aviation is headquartered in Saint-Cloud, France, with engineering centered in Saint-Cloud, factories in Argenteuil, Argonay, Biarritz, Merignac, Martignas, Poitiers, Seclin, and flight tests in Istres and Cazaux. 

http://www.dassault-aviation.com 

About think3

think3 is a privately held mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) company on a mission to revolutionize the $9 billion CAD software industry by bringing powerful, flexible, affordable "mass 3-D" design software to every engineer's desktop.

think3 software is used to design everyday physical objects, including: Alessi boutique home accessories, adidas sports shoes, Buell Motorcycle Company (a division of Harley Davidson) sports bikes, Candy/Hoover vacuum cleaner motors, Dassault Aviation aircraft, Dinan custom BMW engine parts, Pininfarina automotive and public transportation products, Pfaltzgraff dinnerware and accessories, and Tycos Tool & Die molds for exterior automotive parts (e.g., fenders, bumpers), among others.

think3 is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with engineering centered in Bologna, Italy and supported by R&D teams in Bangalore, India, Boston, Massachusetts, Marseilles, France, Pesaro, Italy, and Salt Lake City, Utah. think3 products are sold through a worldwide network of distributors and VARs, and online at. 

http://www.think3.com 

 

Sponsored Links

AnyDWG Offers DWG to PDF, DWG to DXF, PDF to DWG, DWG to JPG, PDF to DXF Converters

AutoDWG offers DWF to DWG, DWG to PDF , PDF to DWG, DWG to Flash Converters, DWG Viewer.

eCampus.com Get your stuff for College... Cheap! Textbooks, Greek Gear, DVD's, University Clothing, Computers and MORE!

Access Your PC from Anywhere Free Trial plus 10% Off!