Airline interiors specialist uses Femap to deliver challenging designs, speed up product development

First class passengers expect elegance and indulgence, and commercial airlines attract and maintain high-value customers with impeccable service. Cabin interiors that provide style and comfort for travelers as well as convenience for crew members are an integral aspect of service. AIM Altitude has been delivering seating, storage and socializing solutions for many years. From its roots as a small UK coachworks in the early 20th century, AIM Altitude is now a global business serving the world’s leading airlines, and through acquisition now has bases at several sites in the UK and New Zealand.

Initially different applications were being used at different sites, and the company needed to standardize on one of its engineering systems. Following a head-to-head comparison, AIM Altitude selected Femap and very quickly, engineers that had been using the previous application began to see benefits in productivity. For example, CAD data representing a set of panels of varying thicknesses is a typical starting point in the creation of the FE model. Engineers must reduce these 3D thin-walled models down to a midplane to create a 2D mesh and apply material properties, constraints and loading conditions. The analysts at AIM Altitude observed that Femap, with its visualization and geometry idealization capabilities driven by the Parasolid geometry engine, makes this process both easy and accurate. AIM Altitude cites a 50% reduction in FE model creation time that translates to improved overall business productivity.

Also, by standardizing on Femap, the company could take advantage of a global licensing option, allowing the same licenses to be used by engineers in the UK and then in New Zealand (with a 12-hour time difference) through the twenty-four hour day.

You can read or view the full case study and video for more information on how AIM Altitude leverages Femap to speed up product development.