Historicalarchived
Enterprising Composite Design and Structural Analysis Tool deployed to Rotorcraft Industrial Partner
AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB
AFRL researchers and their on-site contractor, the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), developed a unique composite material design and structural analysis tool to provide design solutions, reduce design cost, and improve operations safety for military, industrial, and commercial helicopters and other rotorcraft. The new, laboratory-developed design and analysis tool provides rapid solutions early in the design process to assess component damage tolerance and has the potential to trim component risk reduction costs and schedules by as much as 50%. The new technology also enables mission enhancement improvements in certification and supportability. AFRL scientists, assisted by UDRI, developed the unique composite material design and structural analysis tool based on an analysis code known as the B-spline analysis method (BSAM). BSAM uses a revolutionary numerical approach to model solid mechanics problems. The BSAM software consists of evolving computer code that analyzes the three-dimensional stress behavior within a layered composite material. The software performs general-purpose solid mechanics analysis based on an innovative method of assembling B-spline approximations of deformation in a numerical format to efficiently solve complex mechanics problems.
Applications
- Military and Commercial Significance:
- The team’s new tool provides a quicker and less expensive means to characterize and predict the behavior of flawed or damaged structures used to build the associated aircraft. Researchers coordinated with the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) to develop the technology and transferred it to the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Scientists are adapting the new tool for rotorcraft applications throughout the Department of Defense (DoD).
- Researchers developed BSAM with technology transfer in mind. The US Government and aerospace industrial partners formed an alliance to guide the development of BSAM-related technology. In a coordinated effort with UTRC, AFRL developed the new BSAM-based design and analysis tool, ultimately delivering it to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.
- Composites are becoming the engineering material of choice for aerospace and high-performance applications. The BSAM-based tool has proven itself at least 8 times more efficient than state-of-the-art, finite element method codes for the analysis of composite materials with open holes. AFRL and UDRI researchers have primarily used BSAM as a research-oriented code to model various configurations ranging from bolted and bonded joints to fracture mechanics problems. They have also used it to test new theories on the deformation, strength, and durability of advanced composite materials, including the emerging complex fiber architectures envisioned by the aerospace industry. The successful delivery of the tool provides Sikorsky engineers a greatly enhanced ability to quickly design and evaluate key composite parts for future DoD and civilian rotorcraft.
Provenance
- Original
- https://dodtechmatch.com/dod/successstories/view.aspx?id=60076
- Archived copy
- Wayback Machine snapshot
This record was recovered from a public web archive of dodtechmatch.com and is preserved for historical reference. It may be outdated. Not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Contact details from the original listing have been withheld.