Corporate Overview
VEXTEC Corporation was founded in 2000. The company set out to develop a computational process to predict long-term product durability. This software fills a gap in the existing capabilities provided by CAD/CAM, FEA, statistical modeling, and physical testing, and by integrating them into a single computational framework. Our initial research and development work took two distinct paths: the company’s material science experts focused on developing virtual material simulation, while our computational experts integrated our virtual material intellectual property with cloud computing to create a tool for analyzing component, system and fleet performance and assessing the impact on the client’s business. Various government agencies and Fortune 100 companies supported this important technology. As a result of its work and expertise in this field, the company was able to map material microstructure, the genetic code of materials. This mapping process can now be used to simulate manufactured product behavior by taking into account the variability imparted by the combination of material processing, geometric tolerances, and customer usage.
Like DNA, in which every cell contains resident genetic information, every material has a microstructure that determines its behavior. This microstructure is the key to understanding how materials behave, and more importantly, predicting how they’re going to behave under varying in-service conditions. By applying this technology to the components a company manufactures, VEXTEC can simulate – with a very high degree of accuracy – the behavior of that component, the life expectancy of a complex system made up of those components – an engine, for instance – and by extension, the performance of an entire product fleet. VEXTEC calls this capability Virtual Life Management. It is the only company to offer this groundbreaking technology.
Today, VEXTEC Corporation provides technical expertise and services in the area of component, system, and fleet durability and life. We utilize our Virtual Life Management® (VLM) engineering software platform to help companies make better products and resolve in-service durability and reliability issues.
The VLM simulation software platform meshes conventional FEA with a 3-D spatial model of the material microstructure to predict relative component durability and life over time. VEXTEC’s patented physics-based computational methods predict lifecycle data for each individual grain in the component’s material microstructure. The VEXTEC methodology has been successfully applied to metal, laminated composite, and hybrid composite structures.
VEXTEC provides insight into why damage occurs-how cracks and corrosion begin and grow over time. Sensitivity studies identify what can be done to prevent damage initiation and growth through modifications to material design, component design, processing, or in-service load conditions. These sensitivity studies can show the effects of varying attributes like heat treatments, surface conditions, alloys, geometry, residual stress, or in-service loads and stresses.
The insight VEXTEC provides enables our clients to optimize their product design and manufacturing processes to achieve the desired product durability and life, while at the same time reducing product development time and cost. VEXTEC’s clients include aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, heavy industry and medical device manufacturing companies as well as many Federal government agencies.
VEXTEC Corporation has a comprehensive staff of engineering, scientific and software development, and business application specialists headquartered in Brentwood, TN, a suburb of Nashville. The company is privately held.