Dassault Gets its Fiber with Simulayt

Dassault Systemes adds a new layer to its simulation product lineup, quite literally. Last week, the company acquired Simulayt, which specializes in fiber simulation and ply modeling.

As a partner of Dassault, Simulayt offers a series of plug-ins to Dassault's CATIA, SolidWorks, and Abaqus software packages. The core technology from Simulayt, according to the company, "was first developed by Dr. J. W. Klintworth in 1991, initially driven by the aerospace composites industry. The technology was soon adopted by advanced motorsport engineers, and now, for example, the majority of successful Formula 1 cars are developed using Simulayt technology. With the continuous expansion of composite materials, the Layup Technology is now used extensively in the automotive, marine, energy, leisure and other industries utilising fiber reinforcement."

Simulayt's clients have used its software to design carbon fiber-reinforced components in motor-cross bikes, visualize the layup (fiber layering) process of composite parts, and simulate ply-by-ply lamination of aerospace components, among others. By simulating the behaviors of composite parts and fiber-reinforced parts down to ply thickness and material properties, manufacturers can ensure that unmanufacturable or unsuitable plies are not incorporated into their design.

Dominique Florack, Dassault's senior executiveVP, Products, R&D, said, “Simulayt’s strong technical expertise is widely recognized and its manufacturability simulation technology is systematically winning in all benchmarks. The ability to further integrate this technology within our [CATIA] Version 6 platform is critical in addressing the composites materials and processes of tomorrow, with lifelike modeling and product/production simulation experiences.”

Simulayt also offers plug-ins for Autodesk Inventor software from Autodesk and Femap from Siemens PLM Software, both Dassault's rivals. Dassault hasn't clarified how it plans to incorporate Simulayt's technology into its own products.