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European Space Agency Awards Contract to Siemens and Sonaca

June 25, 2019

The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Siemens Digital Industries Software to develop aerospace design applications for metal additive manufacturing (AM). The applications will leverage Siemens’ end-to-end software solution for industrial additive manufacturing that combines generative engineering, topology optimization, predictive analytics, process simulation, build preparation and production execution.

The two-year long project, named Design4AM, represents a strong collaboration between Siemens and Sonaca, a specialist in aerospace structures, with financial support from ESA and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. The Design4AM project will result in a validated process for using Siemens’ comprehensive AM software to design and produce optimized, light-weighted structural parts for space applications, such as satellite-instrument supports, fittings structurally bonded to panels, bipods and more.

“With our deep aerospace knowledge and Siemens’ software technologies,” says Pedro Romero Fernandez, general manager, Sonaca, “engineers will explore hundreds of design options in a fraction of the normal time, then virtually test them against a variety of physical conditions to arrive at the best design solutions that 3D print correctly the first time.”

See also: Siemens Industry, Inc.