Modeling and Simulation for the Accelerated Development of Materials

Under this Air Force sponsored Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project, proposed a product development effort for an integrated system for optical deformation measurement and material model calibration. The system consists of advanced analysis software integrated with a commercial Digital Image Correlation tool. The system is intended to acquire full-field, two-dimensional strain data for regions of interest of 200 mm or greater at elevated temperatures, and use nonlinear optimization algorithms for automated and efficient estimation of model parameters from vast amount of data. This innovative product will be an enabling tool for accelerated evaluation and development of new materials. SC Solutions, Inc., a leader in providing modeling, model-based control and optimization solutions has teamed with Correlated Solutions, Inc., the leading provider of optical deformation measurement products. In Phase I, the feasibility of the overall approach will be demonstrated by measurements on a relevant alloy at moderately high temperatures, visualization of the experimental data, and the application of parameter estimation methods for linear and nonlinear models. In Phase II, the system capabilities will be enhanced, the software product fully prototyped, and the entire process automated. There is potential for wide-ranging commercial application of this technology in aerospace and materials processing industries.