Case Study: ILC Dover achieves lightweight, mission-ready inflatable lunar habitats with Dassault Systèmes (Abaqus/SIMULIA)

Using SIMULIA solutions to virtually test astronaut habitats

ILC Dover, a leader in flexible material systems for extreme environments, needed to design a lightweight, inflatable habitat that could be packed for launch and withstand the Moon or Mars’ harsh conditions and internal pressurization. To address this challenge the company turned to Dassault Systemes’ SIMULIA solutions—specifically Abaqus FEA—to evaluate fabric and webbing performance virtually before building physical prototypes.

Using Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Standard, ILC Dover simulated temperature effects, inflation pressure and nonlinear material behavior to identify allowable fabric yield limits and test lighter alternative materials. Dassault Systemes’ Abaqus FEA eliminated much of the costly trial-and-error prototyping, delivered significant time savings, and enabled weight reductions while preserving required safety factors, giving ILC Dover the confidence to proceed to prototype construction.

ILC Dover

Ric Timmers

Senior Analysis Engineer