Smith Aerospace designs advanced actuators equipment and flight control systems
Smiths Aerospace Actuation Systems designs primary equipment such as thrust reversers, high lift systems, flight controls and systems actuators of the landing gear for civil and military aircraft with a wide range of technologies. With the new 3D design software, engineers of Smiths produce designs faster with software design in 2D that was used previously. This company also uses the product (PDM) data management software Smarteam to ensure a precise design, managing the millions of artwork files that are generated in five global sites at the same time. SmarTeam enables engineers to store, search and retrieve safely design data at the same time that it maintains a history of precise design and allow the realization of simultaneous designs.
"The security, accuracy, cost and optimization of weight are essential elements in our sector, so designs through many iterations in a natural way", says Richard Hall, Director of systems engineering of mechanical performance of Smiths. "The ability of SolidWorks to automate changes to the entire design, along with its ease of general use, means that we can react quickly to design changes regardless of their magnitude and still meet very tight production deadlines."
David Knapick, supervisor of programming C/N (numerical control) in the business of Smiths Aerospace in Los Angeles, uses software to solve problems that might arise in the process of machining. For example, he and his team can similar machining process for a solid model created with SolidWorks of a hydraulic valve used to operate a door of the load compartment. Simulation reveals problems such as incorrect cuts and interference of parts before the start of production.
"Get the correct design before the start of the process of machining is a constant challenge and takes his time", says Knapick. "With SolidWorks, we have been able to create solid models that allow us to quickly see where it is possible that problems may occur and, then solve them without having to rebuild the design from the beginning." "This allows us to reduce the time needed to complete the designs of pre-production for three days to just a couple of hours."
