The damage tolerance approach to design has been employed by the aerospace industry for decades. In contrast to the safe life design method, damage tolerance explicitly accounts the fatigue crack growth process. This design approach takes advantage of the portion of service life a component can have with a growing fatigue crack. Crack inspection, detection and repair protocols are implemented to prevent fatigue cracks from growing too large and causing failure.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN CONCEPTS: SAFE LIFE DESIGN
The philosophy of safe life design is the preferred method for designing components for durable operation in the automotive industry. Under this method, the structure is operated at a stress far below the fatigue strength of the component. By doing this, the designer assumes that the structure will not form a detectable crack during its service life, thus reducing the risk of failure. Continue reading
STRUCTURAL DESIGN CONCEPTS: OVERVIEW OF SAFE LIFE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE
Note: This post is the first in a series of blogs exploring industry-recognized structural design principles. This material originated in an internal white paper written by Dr. Robert Tryon, Chief Technology Officer at VEXTEC.
In the world of structural design, there are two main analytical techniques that are currently employed when attempting to predict the durability of components and systems: safe life design and damage tolerance analysis. Depending on the type of industry, one particular philosophy can be preferred over the other. We offer here an overview of these design philosophies.
SEQUESTERING THE NEXT GENERATION
The hottest word currently being spoken in offices and around dinner tables in the US is “sequestration.” Not since the seminal juror movie 12 Angry Men has the word enjoyed such buzz. While there are many ongoing debates concerning the political ramifications of this government budget-reduction action (that went into effect on March 1), today we would like to discuss one item in particular: its possible effect on military aviation. Continue reading
WIRED ARTICLE CITES VLM TO IMPROVE PRODUCT DESIGN AND RELIABILITY
Today’s manufacturing companies face a significant challenge as they work to balance the demands of the marketplace for better performing products against the need to bring new products to market faster, cheaper, and with greater reliability than ever before.
This month’s issue of Wired Magazine features an article addressing this challenge and discusses how computational simulation tools such as VEXTEC Virtual Life Management® (VLM) can help companies deal with this challenge. Continue reading
BETTER PRODUCTS THROUGH COMPUTATIONAL PROCESSING AND SIMULATION
Author: Carl D. Kolts, VP of Sales and Business Development, VEXTEC Corporation
Every company manufacturing a commercial product is focused on two things – growing revenue and reducing costs. To some companies that means bringing new or improved products to market faster, or pushing an existing product into a new application or market. For other companies it means reducing manufacturing variation, aftermarket service requirements, and warranty costs – in other words, making existing products more reliable to better meet the needs of the existing market. Continue reading
2012 TRENDS: DESIGN OF TURBINES FOR COST, AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY
Posted by: WindPowerEngineering.com
By: Steven Bushong
With larger, more powerful turbines coming online, requirements for pitch control are increasing. Experts say the wind-power industry is also beginning to adopt aerospace test technology, the same kind used to vet airplane designs, to simulate loads on wind turbine blades before installation. Continue reading
