News

Navy contracts VEXTEC to predict actual mission effects
on critical parts.

Firm’s powerful simulation technology will bring maintenance schedules into line with the demands of real-life mission profiles.

Brentwood, TN, June 11, 2009 – During wartime, the actual missions
flown by DoD aircraft are substantially different from the “standard” mission
profiles the aircraft were designed for. And that’s a problem because, when the
routine maintenance and part replacement schedules don’t reflect reality, it puts
fleet safety and readiness at risk. Conventional methods for determining these
schedules can take years, but the Navy can’t wait; it needs maintenance
schedules that match their missions now. They’ve asked VEXTEC to help create
them.

Under the terms of this contract, VEXTEC will expand on prior funded DoD
technology efforts to show that mission sequence effects can be simulated and
predicted for helicopter gearbox systems. VEXTEC’s gearbox life simulator will
employ a high fidelity material-based fatigue modeling approach to facilitate the
evaluation of different mission scenarios. Using this technology means durability
results of different live mission sequences will be simulated in minutes, whereas
traditional physical prototype testing would take years to reproduce even a small
fraction of them.

The ability to simulate durability based on actual vs. theoretical mission profiles
will allow the Navy to fine-tune maintenance schedules based on more accurate
lifing predictions. More accurate maintenance schedules produces benefits across the board from reduced costs to improved component supply management and increased aircraft readiness. But most importantly, it reduces the risk of failures in the field.

“We’re very pleased to be able to apply our technology to a problem whose
solution holds so many important benefits for the Navy, and the aerospace
industry in general,” commented Dr. Robert Tryon, VEXTEC Founder and Chief
Technology Officer. “Getting these important answers now, instead of years from
now, will save time, money and lives.”

VEXTEC has already developed a system-level durability simulation approach for
Army land vehicles, and this Navy project will show that the company’s powerful
computational framework can be modified to analyze a multiple component
helicopter gearbox system.

About VEXTEC

VEXTEC is the only company in the world that can accurately predict the
performance, durability and true lifetime cost of a single component or an entire
fleet—even before they’re ever built. Founded in 2000, VEXTEC has pioneered
and patented innovations in material science and probability theory to form the
foundation of its Virtual Life Management (VLM) technology. Manufacturing
companies from such diverse industries as aerospace, heavy equipment,
automotive, electronics and medical implants can all benefit from VEXTEC’s
unique ability to predict product life cycles and failure, and most importantly, their
financial consequences. To learn more, visit www.vextec.com.

VEXTEC Contact

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