Design and Manufacturing Efficiencies Through Modeling and Simulation in IPPD

The advances in new materials, processes and analytical methods furnish the engineer today with a wide choice of innovative structural concepts to implement. To coordinate the activities of all disciplines while remaining focused on the program goals, an integrated product and process development (IPPD) approach is necessary. Boeing’s Design, Manufacturing and Producibility Simulation (DMAPS) suite of tools based on a single integrated geometry data base allow the IPPD approach to be applied successfully in the design of affordable aircraft structures. DMAPS is exercised in a virtual product environment (VPE). Designers develop the virtual prototype to check form, fit and function, while tooling and manufacturing engineers are simultaneously verifying producibility through tooling and assembly simulations. Boeing is applying DMAPS in the VPE to design the upgrade to the Apache Longbow helicopter. In this paper, the DMAPS tools and their application in the design and development of affordable aircraft structures are described.