Airbus has flown through structural testing on the panels of its new A350 passenger jet thanks to sophisticated computer modeling software developed by a Skolkovo resident.
The European plane-maker is set to roll out a fleet of A350 XWB later this year, with Qatar Airways the launch client.
Russian tech firm DATADVANCE produced the MACROS software platform that reduces dependence on expensive and time-consuming physical testing.
Qatar Airways' freshly painted Airbus A350 XWB on the factory lines in Toulouse, France. Photo: Flickr
Airbus engineers performed strength tests on the plane’s composite panels using pSeven in just a few hours, where physical testing takes much longer, DATADVANCE said in a statement.
“We at DATADVANCE are proud of what we have developed, and that our client, Airbus, has successfully implemented our methodology,” the company quoted chief technical officer Sergey Morozov as saying.
Airbus structural expert Stephane Grihon was quoted as saying the MACROS algorithm core helped engineers to “perform structural trade-off studies far more efficiently and to find opportunities in the design of future aircraft.”
Airbus bills the A350 XWB, which stands for “extra-wide body” as unique, due to its carbon-fiber fuselage. Existing passenger jets have metallic fuselages.
Qatar Airways is to receive the first of 80 aircraft by year-end.
DATADVANCE, a joint venture company between EADS and Russian partners, is a resident of Skolkovo’s IT Cluster.
It specializes in in the development of software for predictive modeling, intellectual data analysis and multi-disciplinary optimization. MACROS – its flagship product – is the result of close cooperation with the Institute for Information Transmission Problems of Russian Academy of Sciences, one of the leading mathematical centers in Russia.