Designers go digital

New capabilities in design and simulation are influencing many aspects of aerospace product development.

Computers have brought numerous benefits to design engineers, automating a number of tasks and making it far easier to reuse technologies. But the advances have come with a downside-the engineers have to turn out more complex designs in shorter time periods.

PCs and workstations have transformed the design process over the past decade or so as designers have shifted entirely to digital design. Design, simulation, and verification help meet the compressed development cycle requirements while also trimming costs by reducing the need for building prototypes.