IPTN IS CARRYING out a six-month pilot project, using Concentra's latest Aircraft Configuration Environment (ACE) software, which could lead to its adoption for development of the Indonesian company's planned N2130 family of regional jets.
The project, aimed at optimising the design of the N2130's wing, for minimum cycle times and cost, is due to be completed in January, although a decision on the large-scale acquisition of ACE could be made as early as October.
"The N2130 will be designed to have the lowest direct operating costs and acquisition price of any regional jet," says Mochtar Sharief, IPTN vice-president for technology. "To achieve this target, we have several initiatives - one of which is to implement computer-aided design and manufacture, including knowledge-based engineering."
ACE is based on Concentra's widely used ICAD system, and is designed to enable engineers to consider every aspect of a design, including "downstream" manufacturing processes, at its inception.
By inputting high-level functional requirements, such as payload and route economics, into a so-called "generative model", conceptual designs can be developed rapidly and the design process automated down to component level, Coventry, UK-based Concentra claims.
IPTN's Sharief adds: "By applying ACE, not only do we expect to improve our products, but also-we expect to respond faster to market forces and reach certification sooner."
Western manufacturers using ACE include Aerospatiale, Airbus, Boeing, British Aerospace, McDonnell Douglas and Sikorsky.
Source: Flight International
