SAMPE 2007 Baltimore, MD, USA - Paris, France, June 3, 2007 – ESI Group (ESIN FR0004110310), the leading solution provider in physics based simulation software announces the release of PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 mainly used in aeronautics, ship building and automotive industries. To answer the market requirement, ESI Group has developed PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 an application to simulate composite parts manufacturing based on liquid composite molding processes like RTM¹ or VARTM (Vacuum Assisted RTM). 3D modeling now makes the study of thick parts possible and thermal management can be optimized.

Nowadays, the use of modern materials and processes is the way to decrease the weight which is the common objective in aeronautics, automotive and ship building industry. However, making thicker, larger and more elaborate composite parts generates new technological challenges. With these new materials and processes it is no longer possible to rely only on traditional methodologies to design and manufacture these components.  Due to the size of the parts, the traditional trial and error approach of tooling manufacturing would lead to unacceptable tooling cost as well as long development lead times and expensive material waste. Simulation based design is seen as a way to address these challenges in an economical way.

RTM simulation has been used for more than 10 years for simulating the injection of parts with resin fibrous reinforcements. These last years ESI Group has especially adapted the capabilities of PAM-RTM to the emerging needs of new aircraft programs. PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 can be used to design and develop new tooling and processes for composite materials. It fine tunes the mold design and the process parameters in order to make sure that the parts are injected correctly first time.

PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 is the result of the full implementation of PAM-RTM capabilities in CATIA V5 and a long term collaboration with industries leaders. The software takes full benefit of the seamless integration of simulation algorithms within CATIA V5 performed on the native geometry. This totally integrated application dramatically reduces the simulation cycle time by directly linking mold design and simulation results. It also allows the user to perform injection analysis directly on the CAD model, which ensures a consistent geometric dataflow in an iterative continuous improvement process, resulting in significant time savings and costs.

In the past, such analysis could only be done in an external simulation environment, forcing the user to export the geometric data and leave the CAD environment. Using CAA V5 architecture and components the simulation process has now been fully integrated, and PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 now offers a common user interface to the designer with key advantages such as the dynamic communication between design and simulation results and no loss of information due to geometry conversion and transfer.

“With this application, ESI Group is introducing a direct link between the numerical simulation of manufacturing liquid composite molding processes and CATIA V5 Composites Part Design (CPD). It is seen as a major breakthrough that will help the engineers to reuse all the information generated during the design to create quickly injection/infusion models.” said Dr Patrick de Luca, Composites Solutions Manager ESI Group

PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 will be available for first customer shipment by July 2007.

For more information, please contact your ESI Group’s representative or visit www.esi-group.com.

*RTM: Resin Transfer Molding (1)

About ESI Group’s Composites & Plastics solutions

SYSPLY, for the design of composite material structures
PAM-RTM, for resin transfer moulding and infusion processes
PAM-FORM 2G for thermoforming, (stretching-) blowing, diaphragm forming, roll forming, hand lay-up simulation of composites and plastics
PAM-CRASH/Composite Module for composite crash and impact simulation