2010 Issue

34 horizontal and vertical stiffeners do not carry the loads efficiently. The wing rib would be better designed using the stiffener pattern shown in red. We used the same optimization process described for the engine mount and door hinge to design the Leading Edge Wing Ribs for the AIRBUS A380. Note the non-traditional design. The real-world results from this optimization effort are as follows: • 13 ribs designed by 5 engineers in 7 weeks • 1100 pounds removed from the baseline design • Over 40 percent weight reduction • Reduced weight allows 5 additional passengers = $4.5 million over the life of one AIRBUS A380 So there you have it, optimization in a nutshell – something to consider in your quest to design Better Products in Less Time. RonThuegraduatedfromBYUwithanMSinCivilEngineeringin1984.Hespent10yearsatThiokol Corporation(nowATK)whereheworkedontheredesignoftheSpaceShuttleSolidRocketMotors andsupervisedthePLIStructuresandCaseDesigngroups.Ronfoundedandranhisownengineering firmfor8yearsandthenjoinedAltairEngineeringin2005.Ron’sspecializesinstructuraloptimization toreduceproductdesigntime,improveproductrobustness,andreduceproductweight.Ronisthe current chairperson of the AIAA Utah Section. BETTER PRODUCTS — continued from page 33