Altair Case Studies Optimizing Camcopter® S-100 Design at Schiebel with Altair Solutions

	Optimizing Camcopter® S-100 Design at Schiebel with Altair Solutions Altair

Optimizing Camcopter® S-100 Design at Schiebel with Altair Solutions

Altair

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
Applicable Industries	Buildings Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Additive Manufacturing Manufacturing Process Simulation
Services	System Integration Testing & Certification
Challenge	Schiebel Group, a manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) based in Vienna, Austria, faced a significant challenge in optimizing the design of its CAMCOPTER® S-100. The S-100, an aerial system active throughout Europe, had to cover distances of up to 160 km, flying for more than 8 hours. This required a reliable, robust vehicle architecture and fuel supply. In addition to functionality requirements, Schiebel wanted the S-100 to be as light as possible to increase the vehicle’s reach. Furthermore, Schiebel had to ensure that its products were compliant with several national regulations, including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)’s light UAS operator certificate (LUC). The LUC includes guidelines on safe operation, control systems reliability, and a permit to fly. To meet these demanding development goals and allow Schiebel to take the S-100 of today into the future, the company needed a multidisciplinary design approach. Read More
About Customer	Schiebel Group is a manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The company has built an international reputation for manufacturing reliable and mature products for both defense and humanitarian sectors. To achieve precise designs and a reliable performance of its technologically advanced products, Schiebel uses a variety of high-end manufacturing technologies, such as metal additive manufacturing (AM) and advanced simulation solutions to develop and build its CAMCOPTER® S-100. Since 2020, an in-house metal 3D printer enables Schiebel to manufacture landing gear brackets and titanium parts for the S-100 rotor engine, featuring maximum durability and power output with smallest possible weight and size. Read More
Solution	To meet the challenge, Schiebel used Altair solutions in combination with 3D printing. The engineers performed a range of simulations, especially to optimize the design of additively manufactured engine parts. Using Altair’s topology optimization structural design tool, Schiebel significantly reduced the weight while maintaining a high stiffness level, achieving a robust design. The system was then evaluated by laminar and turbulent flow simulation as well as conjugate heat transfer simulation using Altair CFD™. Contacts, Nonlinear Finite Elements (NLFE) and complex dynamic systems were then modeled with Altair® MotionView® and Altair® MotionSolve®. Schiebel also took advantage of their access to APA solutions and applied tools such as Amphyon to simulate the AM process, including pre-deforming the parts to achieve the required accuracy. Amphyon was also applied for a thermal stress simulation, allowing the engineers to identify thermal hotspots and simulate the strength of the support structure. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation

Applicable Industries

Buildings

Construction & Infrastructure

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Additive Manufacturing

Manufacturing Process Simulation

Services

System Integration

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Schiebel Group, a manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) based in Vienna, Austria, faced a significant challenge in optimizing the design of its CAMCOPTER® S-100. The S-100, an aerial system active throughout Europe, had to cover distances of up to 160 km, flying for more than 8 hours. This required a reliable, robust vehicle architecture and fuel supply. In addition to functionality requirements, Schiebel wanted the S-100 to be as light as possible to increase the vehicle’s reach. Furthermore, Schiebel had to ensure that its products were compliant with several national regulations, including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)’s light UAS operator certificate (LUC). The LUC includes guidelines on safe operation, control systems reliability, and a permit to fly. To meet these demanding development goals and allow Schiebel to take the S-100 of today into the future, the company needed a multidisciplinary design approach.

About Customer

Schiebel Group is a manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The company has built an international reputation for manufacturing reliable and mature products for both defense and humanitarian sectors. To achieve precise designs and a reliable performance of its technologically advanced products, Schiebel uses a variety of high-end manufacturing technologies, such as metal additive manufacturing (AM) and advanced simulation solutions to develop and build its CAMCOPTER® S-100. Since 2020, an in-house metal 3D printer enables Schiebel to manufacture landing gear brackets and titanium parts for the S-100 rotor engine, featuring maximum durability and power output with smallest possible weight and size.

Solution

To meet the challenge, Schiebel used Altair solutions in combination with 3D printing. The engineers performed a range of simulations, especially to optimize the design of additively manufactured engine parts. Using Altair’s topology optimization structural design tool, Schiebel significantly reduced the weight while maintaining a high stiffness level, achieving a robust design. The system was then evaluated by laminar and turbulent flow simulation as well as conjugate heat transfer simulation using Altair CFD™. Contacts, Nonlinear Finite Elements (NLFE) and complex dynamic systems were then modeled with Altair® MotionView® and Altair® MotionSolve®. Schiebel also took advantage of their access to APA solutions and applied tools such as Amphyon to simulate the AM process, including pre-deforming the parts to achieve the required accuracy. Amphyon was also applied for a thermal stress simulation, allowing the engineers to identify thermal hotspots and simulate the strength of the support structure.

Impact #1	Thanks to the Altair solutions, Schiebel was able to develop and manufacture engine parts with an optimized, bionic structure and an exceptional product design, providing its customers with a reliable, lightweight air vehicle. The combined use of additive manufacturing and simulation driven design not only reduced the component weight by up to 50% while increasing stiffness and strength by also 50%, but also significantly reduced the design process time. Another major benefit of this simulation approach is the reduction in printing costs, as Amphyon’s simulations identify issues that might arise during printing before they occur, thus avoiding additional print jobs due to manufacturing defects.

Impact #1

Thanks to the Altair solutions, Schiebel was able to develop and manufacture engine parts with an optimized, bionic structure and an exceptional product design, providing its customers with a reliable, lightweight air vehicle. The combined use of additive manufacturing and simulation driven design not only reduced the component weight by up to 50% while increasing stiffness and strength by also 50%, but also significantly reduced the design process time. Another major benefit of this simulation approach is the reduction in printing costs, as Amphyon’s simulations identify issues that might arise during printing before they occur, thus avoiding additional print jobs due to manufacturing defects.

Benefit #1	50% reduction in component weight
Benefit #2	50% increase in stiffness and strength
Benefit #3	2 months time reduction in the design process

Benefit #1

50% reduction in component weight

Benefit #2

50% increase in stiffness and strength

Benefit #3

2 months time reduction in the design process

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Overview

Optimizing Camcopter® S-100 Design at Schiebel with Altair Solutions

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit