The Software category of the JEC 2008 Innovations Awards has been won by Advanced Composites Group and its partners FEA (UK) Ltd, BAE Systems plc and Bombardier Aerospace, all UK. The award has been given for the Precimould tool design software the partners have developed.

Precimould enables the design of a tool's surface shape so that it will produce a finished part as close as possible to the required shape and size. The software tool is used within the Lusas finite element code. It was designed so that an experienced computer-aided design operator can quickly learn how to use Precimould without an extensive background in finite element analysis.

The tool reduces processing distortions that cause part inaccuracies or non-compliances resulting in poor fits during assembly.

The development of the software took several years. The first step consisted in understanding the part distortion process and identifying the parameters involved. The subsequent software design process included an extensive study of material properties and behaviours. Finally, the software was validated by comparing modelling data with experimental measurements.