JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #88 - April 2014 - Special JEC Americas Spring Edition - 80

simulation

Composite layup simulation
is now a reality
Spring Technologies has a 30-year track record as a vendor
of solutions that enable manufacturers to optimize ROI on
their numerical control (CNC) machines, maximizing productivity and reducing costs. Now, SPRINg Technologies has
announced the latest version of NCSIMUL Machine 9.1, its
flagship machining simulation software, embedding now a
dedicated set of features to composite lay-up simulation.

ey features of the new NCSIMUL
Machine 9.1 software include
layup simulation for composite
materials, complete integration of the
NCdoc document publication module,
and automated functions to enhance user
experience. More details follow.

Simulation of composite
material layup
NCSIMUL Machine 9.1 is the result of
several years' collaboration with major
aerospace customers. It now enables the
replication of material layup processes
executed by CNC machines.
Just as it does in conventional machining,
NCSIMUL Machine 9.1 decodes all
types of NC programs, representing the
complete machine environment in 3D to
identify and analyse programming errors
and collisions. The "Composite" option
of this version also enables a dynamic
representation of fibre tape laying, taking
into consideration the 3D form of the
composite. The positioning of each fibre
in the tape is managed independently.
NCSIMUL Machine 9.1 alerts users to
issues that are specific to the way composites are processed and that are liable
to occur on real-life machines, e.g. fibre
steering angle errors that could gene-

rate deviation, the twisting of taut fibre
between the head and the position on
the spool, and fibre tension issues, including speed disparities between fibres
or sudden changes of direction creating
backward laying.
Analysis functions can be used to communicate information to the process
planning department and the design
office before going live. This includes the
length of the laid material, layer thickness
measurement, fibre tape intersection
angle, aperture radius, etc. The section
plane function gives insights into layering
or possible holes in the material. At any
time, you can export the fibre path or the
end result result (the 3D envelop) of the

material layup generated on the tooling in
CAD format. This unique feature provides
key data and information to the Department of Engineering Design.
NCSIMUL Machine 9.1 takes into consideration the shape of the initial tooling
and the tension applied to the fibres.
SPRING Technologies has developed
very fast new algorithms enabling fibre
layup simulation with performances of
300 m/min. on a conventional CAD
workstation.
All the functions dedicated to composite
technology are grouped together in a
new ribbon-type toolbar interface for a
fast, effective learning curve.

NCS machin: Composites lay up simulation collision checking

80 jec composites magazine / No88 April 2014

PhiliPPe solignac
corPorate MarKeting Director
sPring technologies

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #88 - April 2014 - Special JEC Americas Spring Edition

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #88 - April 2014 - Special JEC Americas Spring Edition