WHO: 

Rani Richardson, Composite Product Specialist, Dassault Systèmes

WHAT:           

"Composites as a Neutral Format for FAA Certification "

WHEN:

March 14, 2012 at 9:30a.m. MDT

WHERE:

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)

Composites Manufacturing 2012

Phoenix Marriott Mesa Conference Center

Mesa, AZ

For more information on the conference, visit:

http://composites.sme.org/2012

WHY:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that manufacturers have a plan in place that will enable them to generate design intent for the life of their product.  In the past, when manufacturers used two dimensional drawings, this was a fairly straightforward process, and remained that way even after the introduction of 3D.  However, the widespread adoption of Model Based Definition (MBD) – which allows for the insertion of engineering information such as geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), notes and other product details within the 3D digital data set for components and assemblies – creates a new set of challenges for long-term archiving.

The inherent complexities in designing with composites make it even more essential to maintain explicit representations of advanced composite structures.  As the aerospace industry begins to rely more and more on composites, these regulations make it increasingly important for manufacturers to use neutral formats.  They must ensure that digital data can be accessed well into the future – sometimes 100 years or more – and be sure that the media on which it is stored will survive the life of the product.  This presentation will review design history and then describe future directions for supporting full Design Intent in a Model Based Environment using explicit representation of composite structures.

Attendees will:

• Hear how Long Term Archival and Retrieval (LOTAR) requirements affect composites manufacturing, specifically in the aerospace industry.
• Learn how Model Based Definition, which has brought tremendous benefits to most manufacturers, has created LOTAR complexities.
• Better understand the challenges involved with long term archival and learn how to address them.