For critical applications in aerospace, naval, automotive and energy, performance continually drives the need to innovate. And whether it’s designing new components or sustaining legacy platforms, the engineering innovation “push” must be balanced against the “pull” of safe and reliable operation. This is where qualification standards and certification processes come into play.

The amount of physical testing involved in certifying a new product, qualifying a new manufacturing technique, or approving a new vendor can be immense. But it is done in order to mitigate the risk of the “new”. In particular – the world of Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been prone to extensive testing, because of the variability currently seen in the many manufacturing processes under the AM umbrella. The reality of all of this testing means long lead times and high development costs, with valuable resources taken up by going down blind alleys leading nowhere.

VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO® software is a predictive tool which simulates metal fatigue at the microstructural level. It computationally integrates the macro-structure (component geometry) with the micro-structure (metallic grains, boundaries, voids, defects). This is accomplished through interfacing with FEA structural modeling. The software accounts for the material and processing variabilities seen in any type of manufacturing – including AM. VPS-MICRO leverages the power of Abaqus, allowing users to create and run virtual Designs of Experiments to hone in on appropriate material conditions that give high confidence for passing physical tests. 

Without changing the parameters of the certification process, the software efficiently simulates the performance of a metallic component under testing and operational conditions. This allows you to direct the physical testing to only acquire the data you need and nothing more, saving valuable time and money in the process.

VEXTEC is a longstanding member of the Dassault Systèmes Partnership Program. I’d love the opportunity to chat with you about your particular needs, or just to answer any general questions you might have about how Abaqus and VPS-MICRO can work together to solve tough engineering challenges!

Read more about VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO software:
https://vextec.com/software/