FINITE ELEMENT MODELS FOR THE SUPPORTABILITY OF UNITED STATES AIR FORCE (USAF) AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A CENTRALIZED FUNCTION FOR FINITE ELEMENT MODELS OF USAF AIRCRAFT. THIS OBJECTIVE WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH CHARACTERIZATION OF FINITE ELEMENT MODEL USAGE, DEVELOPMENT AND COMPARISON OF APPROACHES TO MODEL COMMONALITY, AND CREATION AND COMPARISON OF CENTRALIZED FUNCTION CONCEPTS. THE KEY TECHNICAL ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED IN APPROACHES TO MODEL COMMONALITY ARE: (1) HOW TO ESTABLISH COMMONALITY BETWEEN COARSE AND FINE MESH MODELS. (2) HOW TO TRANSFER DATA BETWEEN MODELS USING DIFFERENT FINITE ELEMENT CODES. THE KEY ISSUE TO BE ADDRESED IN CREATING A CENTRALIZED FUNCTION IS WHAT WORK WOULD BE DONE WITHIN THE CENTRALIZED FUNCTION AND WHAT WOULD BE RETAINED WITHIN THE EXISTING DISPERSED TECHNICAL SPECIALITY FUNCTIONS.