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Recent R&D Contracts

NASA Glenn Research Center  Collier Research is to perform an Analysis and Optimization of provided launch vehicle tank designs. Weight trade studies were performed for various panel concepts and material options along with strength and stability assessments with detailed margin-of-safety reporting.

AFRL Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base  Collier Research performed "Innovative, Weight Efficient, Composite/Metallic Structural Joint Analysis" with HyperSizer.

AFRL Air Force Research Lab  Collier Research performed structural sizing with HyperSizer to determine optimal panel concepts and material selections for minimum weight vehicle substructure concepts and material selections for engine and airframe designs.

NASA Ames Research Center Collier Research performed the enhancement of HyperSizer Structural Sizing Software including Structural Mass Properties Assessment, Design, and Structural Analysis.

Lockheed Martin and AFRL Air Force Research Lab Collier Research performed structural sizing with HyperSizer to determine optimal panel concepts and material selections for all internal and external surface areas of the future, Long Range Strike Aircraft.

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center  Collier Research provided structural & TPS analysis and optimization disciplinary support of two government 3rd Generation Vehicle concept designs.

NASA Glenn and Engineered Material Concepts Collier Research was awarded a NASA NRA contract to develop methods for analyzing a class of efficient super lightweight structures called "lattice block" and incorporating these methods into HyperSizer. Lattice block structures are candidates for 3rd Gen space launch designs.

Northrop Grumman Collier Research performed composite analysis and sizing optimization of a curved panel wall that includes tank insulation and Thermal Protection Systems.

AFRL Air Force Research Lab and Lockheed Ft Worth Collier Research had a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Air Vehicles Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB. The topic is "Certification by Analysis." The aim of the research is to identify how software tools such as FEA and HyperSizer can be used best to certify aircraft structure.

NASA Langley and NASA Ames Research Centers In support of NASA's distributed design teams: Aerospace Engineering Environment (AEE) and Intercenter Systems Analysis Team (ISAT), HyperSizer is being used as the primary structural analysis tool for rapid vehicle design assessments. For NASA's High Performance Computing and Communication Program (HPCCP), Collier Research developed new technologies within HyperSizer, such as an object model and parallel processing capability, that allows integration into a heterogeneous distributed computing environment. This technology also permits HyperSizer to be integrated with Excel spreadsheets and Phoenix Integration's Model Center.

NASA Glenn Research Center, Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI), and University of Virginia (UVA) Collier Research is currently working a three year contract to research methods, software integration, and software interface development for a joint venture between HyperSizer and the High Order Theory and General Method of Cells research codes.

Pratt & Whitney and NASA Glenn Research Center Under sponsorship of NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology, Collier Research completed Phases 1, 2, and 3 for a Structures and Materials Launch Vehicle program under contract to Pratt & Whitney. Our company provided the HyperSizer software to the team members and performed structural analysis and sizing optimization of the Turbine Based Combine Cycle (TBCC) and Rocket-Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) Air-Breathing propulsion system.

Recent News

49th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference (2008) April 7-10, 2008, Schaumburg, IL

The 49th Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference (SDM): Multifunctional Structures and Materials—Challenges and Opportunities, is sponsored by AIAA, ASME, ASCE, AHS, and ASC. This established conference is a widely acknowledged annual event that provides a unique forum dedicated to the latest development in the collective disciplines of structures, structural dynamics, materials, design engineering, and survivability. SDM will also host the 16th Adaptive Structures Conference, the 10th Non-Deterministic Approaches Conference, the 9th Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, and the 4th Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Specialist Conference. Plenary presentations given by recognized, forward-thinking invited speakers will be a special feature of the conference. This year, these presentations will be organized around the subject of multifunctional structures and materials and their potential applications in future generations of air and space vehicles.

Collier Research Corporation presented on four topics. Click below for copies of the published papers:

http://www.aiaa.org

About Collier Research

Collier Research Corporation has provided methods research and software development to NASA and the aerospace industry since 1995. In addition to internally funding software development, Collier Research is actively converting NASA, industry, and university developed research software into HyperSizer. Our company knows that in order to be usable by industry, engineering software must be robust, well supported, verified, intuitive, graphical, and allow the engineer to be highly productive.

“A Hampton Roads company [Collier Research Corporation] has become the first to license computer software from NASA Langley as part of the agency's effort to transfer technology to U.S. businesses.” “This is a pioneering step for both NASA and the company, Collier Research & Development Corp. For NASA, it represents the emerging recognition of the value of computer software as a potentially licensable technology. The software intellectual property rights are being treated similarly to hardware patent rights. For Collier R&D, it represents a broadening of its business from engineering consulting to developers and marketers of software technology.“ - NASA News Press Release May 23, 1996

Hypersizer Development History

A strategy... to combine finite element analysis (FEA) with an automated design procedure was conceived at NASA Langley Research Center in the early 1980s and has evolved, through a series of precursor codes into this version of HyperSizer for analyzing the strength and stability of stiffened panels constructed of any material, including fiber-reinforced composites. Of particular note is the NASA code referred to as ST-SIZE (ST-SIZE© 1996 NASA. All rights reserved.). Collier Research Corporation obtained an exclusive, all fields of use license to ST-SIZE in May 1996. (Collier Research employees were principal developers of ST-SIZE and have been continually developing the software and analytical methods for the last twelve years).

Collier Research is combining the NASA LaRC ST-SIZE copyright research code with other company proprietary software. The combined computer software is marketed with the trademark HyperSizer®. (HyperSizer© 1996 Collier Research & Development Corp. All rights reserved.). HyperSizer has user support, training, maintenance, and documentation. More importantly though, Collier Research is providing accelerated R&D, greatly expanded capability and features, a graphical user interface (GUI), an integrated database management system, and the ability to integrate with other FEA modelers and solvers.

On to the history... NASA led development of ST-SIZE from 1988 to 1995. Two major versions of ST-SIZE were developed, each having completely re-written equations and code. The original version of ST-SIZE included formulations for stiffness terms and thermal expansion coefficients based on approximations commonly taken in traditional design methods.

During development of the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) X-30 airframe and engine, a 1990 version of ST-SIZE was developed for structural design and weight prediction. Continued studies of NASP and other hypersonic vehicle structural designs exposed areas of more and more complex thermo-structural interaction and identified needs for even more accurate methods of formulating panel stiffness and thermal expansion coefficients. In addition, new design checks and features to enhance the code's usefulness were desired.

A novel method... for formulation of stiffened panel properties was conceived and developed starting in 1991. A method for accurately including composite lamina and laminate data in the formulation of stiffened panel structural properties was first developed. Thermal coefficients created to handle both in-plane and through-the-thickness temperature gradients for membrane, bending, and membrane-bending coupling were also introduced and mathematically proven. Shortly thereafter a method was developed to input these thermal expansion and bending coefficients into the MSC/NASTRAN FEA program using a model with a single plane of finite elements. (Other solvers are now supported such as I-DEAS). The significance of including fully defined thermoelastic data for an entire aircraft analysis was proven with the general formulation of panel thermoelastic stiffness terms. During this time the accuracy of the formulations were demonstrated with finely meshed 3-D FEA. These developments formed part of the foundation for the current version of HyperSizer.

The earlier codes were originally intended for weight prediction but evolved into ones that were able to assess structural integrity and find optimum sizes and materials.

This evolution... has enabled HyperSizer to benefit from the experience of various different structural sizing methods to 'real world' problems. HyperSizer includes the best of each for a mature foundation to advance from. With emphasis on composites, HyperSizer has recently improved macromechanics and implemented micromechanic analysis of the fiber and matrix constituents.