THE STRUCTURES division of GKN Westland Aerospace has taken delivery of 12 new Dassault Systemes CATIA computer-aided design (CAD) workstations, and established a separate internal department to handle the Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 nacelle-manufacturing contract which the company won in November 1995.
John Harris, sales manager of systems supplier Interactive Computing Europe, says that the new contract has provided Westland with the opportunity to introduce "improved methodologies", including a CATIA-created digital mock-up of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150 engine nacelle, and a "team approach", with designers, stress analysts and parts programmers working together in the same office.
The RS6000 computer workstations run CATIA version 4.13, despite the release of version 4.16 in June. This is for compatibility with de Havilland's parent company Bombardier in Canada.
Westland Aerospace Structures division, based in Cowes, Isle of Wight, in the UK, designs and manufactures the nacelles for all Dash 8 models, and recently delivered its 1,000th unit to Bombardier. The company, which became part of the GKN industrial manufacturing group in November 1995, has invested nearly £6 million in CAD equipment since 1989.
Source: Flight International
