Computer program product for automated fatigue and structural analysis of an element

• US 6,862,539 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2003
• Issued: 03/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Sermersheim, Jeffrey S., Fields, Scott S., Meyer, Eric S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Assouad, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Paul L.
• Application Number:
  US10/387,170
• Publication Number:
  US 20030158676A1
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 702/42, 702/43, 703/7, 703/1, 737/60, 737/88
• US Class Current: 702/42
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2203/0214 Calculations a priori without experimental data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/02 CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/04 Ageing analysis or optimisation against ageing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/15 Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/23 using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM]

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product are provided for automated fatigue and structural analysis of a structural element. The method, system and computer program product consolidate and manage the fatigue and structural analysis tools and are responsive to user requests for fatigue and structural analysis of elements based upon user-provided information regarding the element. As such, the appropriate fatigue and structural analysis tools are automatically selected and run, and the output of the tools is automatically evaluated to provide immediately useful fatigue and structural analysis results to the user without requiring further manual input. Thus, people without specialized training can quickly obtain fatigue and structural analysis results for an element. In addition, because the fatigue and structural analysis tools are integrated, the tools may be accessed from remote locations via a computer network.

Claims

1. A computer program product for automated fatigue and structural analysis of a structural element, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-resilable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion capable of predefining a plurality of analysis tools for performing different types of fatigue and structural analysis;

a first executable portion capable of receiving information regarding the structural element and a request to perform fatigue and structural analysis upon the structural element;

a second executable portion capable of automatically performing at least two types of fatigue and structural analysis based upon the information regarding the structural element and the request without further manual input, wherein automatically performing comprises automatically selective at least one analysis tool from the plurality of predefined analysis tools to perform the at least two types of fatigue and structural analysis based upon the request; and

a third executable portion for automatically providing results of the fatigue and structural analysis.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said first executable portion is further capable of formatting the information regarding the structural element prior to performing the fatigue and structural analysis.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said second executable portion automatically performs at least two types of fatigue analysis by automatically determining a fatigue allowable for the structural element, automatically determining an actual maximum stress for the structural element, automatically comparing the fatigue allowable and the actual maximum stress, and thereafter determining a margin of safety for the structural element based upon the comparison.

4. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein said second executable portion automatically determines the fatigue allowable for the structural element by determining an anticipated loading of the structural element over time and the maximum allowable stress to which the structural element may be subjected based upon the anticipated loading of the structural element over time, and wherein said second executable portion automatically determines the actual maximum stress for the structural element by determining the actual stress to which the structural element is subjected based upon the application of a reference loud.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said first executable portion is further capable of presenting at least one web page to solicit the information regarding the structural element.