TechFront New Developments in Manufacturing and Technology Software Slims Composites, Metals Design F
or many industries, composites are the material of choice for achieving lightweight, fuel-efficient and strong designs. The challenge going forward for engi- neers is to take full advantage of the properties of composites by using advanced analysis tools to predict margins of safety, performance, cost, and design for manufacturability (DFM) without adding unneeded weight at each juncture of the engi- neering design creation and review process.
dustries and includes new modeling capabilities for airframe wing box designs as well as laminate zone and ply-count optimization enhancements to improve manufacturing efficiency. HyperSizer’s capabilities are also appropriate for applications in wind turbine blades, ship hull and superstructures, high-speed railcars, and automobile body components, helping teams move from concep- tual design studies through to final validation for aerospace, wind, shipbuilding, railroad and automotive composite applications. “Composites are booming due to stepped-up fuel con- sumption efficiency goals,” says Craig Collier, president of Collier Research. “This is pushing the movement towards light-weighting. But creation of lighter, stronger designs is lim- ited by many of today’s standard industry practices. Weight is needlessly added because engineers have only a partial view of options. They often overdesign to play it safe.”
“It’s a robust analysis tool that allows
us to complete our weight and strength studies in far less time, while finding optimal ply coverages.”
To overcome such drawbacks, HyperSizer targets weight
HyperSizer v6.2 screenshot shows the primary structure and components for the NASA Ames Common Bus LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer) satellite model. HyperSizer can be used from preliminary design to flight certification to perform extensive trade studies, deter- mine material allowables, and calculate margins of safety.
HyperSizer v6.2 software from Collier Research Corp. (New- port News, VA) is used widely in the spacecraft and aviation in-
while serving as an independent and neutral data exchange hub for CAD, FEA, and composite software packages. It iterates with FEA solvers, calculates margins of safety, validates failure predictions with test data, and sequences composite laminates for fabrication—avoiding weight growth as designs mature. “HyperSizer works from preliminary design through flight certification,” says Collier. “This gives the engineering team a more wide-open conceptual design space for performing trade studies involving thousands of alternatives. They can find ro- bust solutions that lead to significant weight and cost savings. On average our customers reduce weight by 20%.” “In the past, our designs were often overweight,” says Ian Fer-
nandez, former materials and analysis lead on NASA Ames Re- search Center’s LADEE satellite project. “HyperSizer has enabled our Center to be more competitive in this regard. It’s a robust