SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT - THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROCUREMENT IS TO PROCURE A SOFTWARE PROGRAM THAT WILL BE USED…

Public award description

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT - THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROCUREMENT IS TO PROCURE A SOFTWARE PROGRAM THAT WILL BE USED TO DEMONSTRATE VIRTUAL INSPECTION CAPABILITY USING ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVES AS APPLIED TO A VARIETY OF EXPLORATION HARDWARE AT NASA. BACKGROUND: A CHARTER ESTABLISHED THE COMPUTATIONAL NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) TEAM WITHIN THE NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CENTER (NESC). THE FOCUS OF THIS TEAM IS TO ADDRESS THE CRITICAL NEED FOR COMPUTATIONAL NDE METHODOLOGIES TO ENABLE NDE CONSIDERATIONS TO BE INCORPORATED AS PART OF THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR FRACTURE CRITICAL STRUCTURES IN THE CONSTELLATION PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT. NDE TECHNIQUES TO DETECT FLAWS AND DAMAGE IN FRACTURE CRITICAL STRUCTURES ARE SPECIFIED IN NASA STANDARDS SUCH AS NASA-STD-5007 GENERAL FRACTURE CONTROL REQUIREMENTS FOR MANNED SPACEFLIGHT SYSTEMS AND NASA-STD-5009 NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS FOR FRACTURE CRITICAL METALLIC COMPONENTS. TO MOST EFFECTIVELY USE SUCH NDE TECHNIQUES, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO INCLUDE THE CONSIDERATION OF INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS AS PART OF THE DESIGN PROCESS, AND IN FACT, THIS WAS SPECIFIED IN THE SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER FRACTURE CONTROL PLAN. OTHERWISE, IT IS OFTEN THE CASE THAT THE CRITICAL COMPONENT, AS OPTIMIZED FOR PERFORMANCE, PROVES DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, TO INSPECT DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY OF STRUCTURAL DESIGN OR THE INCORPORATION OF NEW AND ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS. SUBSTANTIAL BUDGET EXPENDITURES AND SCHEDULE DELAYS ARE OFTEN THEN REQUIRED TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE EFFECTIVE NDE TECHNIQUES FOR CRITICAL COMPONENTS NOT DESIGNED FOR INSPECTION. TO AVOID SUCH PROBLEMS AS NASA MOVES FORWARD IN THE CONSTELLATION PROGRAM TO DEVELOP THE CREW EXPLORATION VEHICLE, CREW LAUNCH VEHICLE, AND FOLLOW-ON SPACECRAFT AND HABITAT STRUCTURES, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO PROVIDE DESIGN TOOLS THAT WILL ENABLE RAPID ASSESSMENT OF THE FEASIBILITY OF NDE METHODS AS PART OF THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR CRITICAL SYSTEM COMPONENTS (THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS, PRESSURE SYSTEMS, COMPOSITE STRUCTURES, ETC.). COMPUTATIONAL NDE METHODOLOGIES ARE REQUIRED TO PREDICT THE RESPONSE FOR A VARIETY OF NDE METHODS (ULTRASONIC, RADIOGRAPHIC, THERMOGRAPHIC, ELECTROMAGNETIC, OPTICAL, ETC.) IN COMPLEX AEROSPACE STRUCTURES. IT IS CRITICAL TO FOCUS RESOURCES IN THIS AREA DUE TO THE ELEVATED IMPORTANCE OF INSPECTION FOR ASSURING SAFE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTELLATION PROGRAM COMPONENTS. NASA INTENDS TO UTILIZE A SOFTWARE PROGRAM PURCHASED UNDER THIS ORDER TO CONDUCT VIRTUAL INSPECTION TO PREDICT WHETHER THE GUIDED WAVE METHOD IS ACTUALLY A GOOD METHOD TO CHOOSE FOR INSPECTION FOR A VARIETY OF EXPLORATION HARDWARE. BY DEVELOPING VIRTUAL INSPECTION TOOLS, WE MAY BE ABLE TO COMPUTATIONALLY MODEL INSPECTIONS TO DETERMINE THEIR FEASIBILITY PRIOR TO ACTUALLY OBTAINING SPECIMENS AND PERFORMING INSPECTIONS. THIS EFFORT CAN THUS RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT TIME AND COST SAVINGS. THERE IS CURRENTLY NO KNOWN COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE COMPUTATIONAL MODELING VIRTUAL INSPECTION SOFTWARE PACKAGE SPECIFIC TO ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVE INSPECTION.