Dassault Systèmes, Airbus APWorks collaborate to advance AM for serial production

France-based Dassault Systèmes, a provider of 3-D design software, 3-D digital mockup, and product life cycle management systems, has entered into a collaborative partnership with Airbus APWorks GmbH, a subsidiary of Airbus and specialist in metal 3-D printing, to advance the use of additive manufacturing (AM) for large-scale production in the aerospace and defense industry.

The collaboration will leverage Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform and APWorks’ consulting, engineering, and production expertise for new developments in the virtual validation of the AM process.

The companies plan to develop an integrated process that provides digital continuity for all engineering parameters across the value chain necessary for the AM of a part, with the goal to make the AM process, from design optimization to production, replicable and scalable.

The companies’ new end-to-end process will deliver a single source of data to address upstream material design and downstream manufacturing processes and testing. The integration of 3-D design combined with engineering and simulation optimizes parts for AM, enables standardized parameters, and therefore allows certification standards.