Alpha STAR‘s flagship product is GENOA – a Virtual Testing software system for composite and metallic structures, that simulates physical tests to reduce test time and costs, and improves product quality through in-service performance simulations. Simulation software can be legitimately called Virtual Testing software when it has been shown to consistently duplicate actual tests. GENOA meets this criterion.

Whereas, other commercially available structural analysis software can predict stiffness and response, they fall short in accurately predicting structural residual strength, including margins of safety, reliability, durability, damage tolerance and life. Consequently, these quantities are conventionally established through tests, which can be very expensive.

GENOA is especially powerful for laminate and textile composites, and for cases where material properties and failure mechanisms are uncertain. The software performs progressive failure simulations using a unique full multi-scale hierarchical approach, which is able to track failure down to the micro-mechanics level where failure has its physical source. The software system accounts for degradation of material and structural properties due to damage initiation, growth and accumulation. Moreover, probabilistic and sensitivity analyses enrich the virtual test data beyond what can be achieved in a physical test.

Alpha STAR’s GENOA Analysis Capabilities

• Stress/structural analysis
• Aerodynamics and Aero-elastic tailoring by CFD method
• Durability and damage tolerance
  • Accurate numerical simulation in thermal-mechanical environments of creep, fatigue, and impact
• Probabilistic failure analysis
  • Uncertainty evaluation of material strength to material parameters,
  • Sensitivities of design requirements to design parameters,
  • Predicting the degree to which design parameters contributed to failure.
• Virtual Testing
  • Accurate numerical simulation predicting results of experimental testing, reduction of test matrix based on percent contribution of failure mechanisms
• Design producibility
  • First time quality and total component interchangeability
• Manufacturing
  • Fabrication, assembly, installation and tooling concept development for precision assembly
• Advanced manufacturing
  • Systems and technology development/integration
    o Manufacturing planning and schedule development
• Manufacturing management and quality control
• Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization

Alpha STAR Testing Capabilities

• Mechanical testing (fatigue, creep, static, fracture toughness)
• Thermal testing
• Specimen preparation