Methods and systems relating to the design and testing of systems that include hinged flight control surfaces of aircraft are disclosed. The systems and methods disclosed herein make use of a structural model representing a structural environment of the system in a relatively simple manner. In various embodiments, the structural model comprises one or more actuation branches having a common linear actuation direction, a load mass, and a massless connector representative of a hinge line of the flight control surface. The massless connector is connected to and disposed between the one or more actuation branches and the load mass and is movable along the common linear actuation direction so that linear movement of the massless connector is correlated to rotational movement of the hinged flight control surface.

A high-fidelity, multi-point, full-mission sonic-boom propagation tool that includes functionality to handle aircraft trajectories and maneuvers, as well as, all relevant noise metrics at multiple points along the supersonic mission. This allows efficient computation of sonic-boom loudness across the entire supersonic mission to allow pilots and aircraft operators to plan the aircraft flight path to manage the sonic boom footprint.

A computer is configured to generate a computer model predicting the progressive creation, density, and spacing of a plurality of cracks in a filler material, such as a noodle, for example, disposed at a connection interface between a load-bearing composite structural component, such as a stringer or a spar, for example, and the structural framework of a vehicle on which those structural components are utilized.

A method of optimizing sections of a tail boom for a rotary wing aircraft, and also to a tail boom including such sections. The method comprises the step of creating a database characterizing standard sections for a tail boom that give precedence to minimizing a negative lift and/or to increasing a lateral force generated by the air stream from the main rotor of the aircraft flowing over the tail boom, a step of establishing looked-for aerodynamic and structural characteristics for said tail boom, and a step of defining the sections of the tail boom as a function of the standard sections and of the looked-for aerodynamic and structural characteristics. The tail boom as defined in this way optimizes the reduction in the negative lift and/or the increase in the lateral force generated by the air stream from the main rotor.

A method and apparatus for manufacturing a part. The part is designed using a CAD system to generate a CAD part model of the part. Features of the part are identified from the CAD part model of the part. A parametric specification of the part is generated using the features of the part. The parametric specification of the part is saved as a parametric part model. The parametric part model is used to fabricate the part.

A simulation apparatus and a simulation method of mixer for secondary battery production are provided. The simulation apparatus includes a memory configured to store at least one instruction; and at least one processor configured to execute the at least one instruction stored in the memory. The at least one instruction includes instructions for: executing an apparatus operating unit including a mixer model apparatus related to secondary battery production; executing a facility operating unit including a plurality of adjustment parameters for determining operation of the mixer model apparatus and quality information related to a quality of a material produced by the mixer model apparatus; obtaining at least one of first user condition information or first user action information input through at least one of the facility operating unit or the mixer model apparatus; determining an operation of the mixer model apparatus based on at least one of the obtained first user condition information or first user action information; and executing an operation of measuring, mixing, and transferring a plurality of raw materials related to the mixer model apparatus based on the determined operation.

A method includes calculating a gradient vector of a property of a framework with respect to first components of a first vector and second components of a second vector. The first components correspond to first structures available for a first location of the framework and the second components correspond to second structures available for a second location of the framework. The method includes identifying, based on the gradient vector, first values for the first components and second values for the second components that yield a third value of the property that satisfies a criterion, selecting a first selected composite sandwich structure of the first composite sandwich structures and a second selected composite sandwich structure of the second composite sandwich structures, and providing output indicating (a) the first values and the second values or (b) the first selected composite sandwich structure and the second selected composite sandwich structure.

A method of generating a panel infill geometry of a sandwich panel, includes providing a driver mesh representing a panel mid-surface of a sandwich panel. The driver mesh is comprised of a plurality of quadrilateral elements. The method further includes providing a reference unit cell mesh configured to fit exactly within a cube. The reference unit cell mesh is comprised of a unit infill mesh interconnecting a pair of unit face sheet meshes. The method additionally includes mapping a plurality of the reference unit cell meshes respectively onto a plurality of hexahedral elements respectively associated with the plurality of quadrilateral elements, through the use of basis functions defined on each of the plurality of quadrilateral elements in a manner causing adjustment of the size and shape of the plurality of reference unit cell meshes to conform respectively to the plurality of hexahedral elements.

Techniques for vehicle design and manufacture are described. These techniques include receiving data relating to one or more desired stiffness characteristics for a manufactured component and identifying a plurality of cross-sectional cuts for a model relating to the component. The techniques further include determining one or more material properties for the manufactured component, the one or more material properties estimated to meet the one or more desired stiffness characteristics for the manufactured component. This includes: for each cross-sectional cut, of the plurality of cross-sectional cuts: determining at least one of the one or more material properties based on identifying a potential solution to a nonlinear optimization problem using one or more initial estimates based on the desired stiffness characteristics.

Accelerated testing protocol systems and methods for testing fiber-reinforced thermoplastic are described. This accelerated testing protocol includes a hybrid approach that includes a combination of modeling and experimental testing. In particular, a reduced set of physical tests are combined with thermoplastic structural models (e.g., phenomenological models) to provide a full characterization of the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic. This accelerated testing protocol significantly reduces test time associated with anisotropic fatigue and creep failure characterization of the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic over a wide range of temperatures, applied loads, and loading angles.