The repeated use of any asset can lead to enormous costs over time, with some estimates putting these expenses higher than 1 percent of total GDP. In areas where machinery is pushed to its limits, such as renewable energy fields, oil and gas plants, mining operations and aerospace products, failure due to friction can occur even more quickly and be even costlier.
The best way to protect against these costs is with new technology that has been developed to accurately predict when a failure will occur from the very beginning of its life. Engineeering.com recently sat down with Ed Wagner, vice president of sales and marketing for Sentient Science, to learn more about what makes the company’s products so helpful in predicting failure.
Specifically, Wagner discussed the company’s “Digital Clone” software solution – a simulation technology that can give a time frame for when any asset, assembly or system as a whole will break down. The process can help engineers learn which designs will have the longest lifespan in any given environment. By altering the product’s geometry or materials early on, companies can save big in the long term.
But Digital Clone doesn’t stop there. According to the news source, the solution can also be introduced to machinery already in use, giving plant maintenance managers more tools to create the most efficient and effective repair plan possible.
The promise of prognostics
Currently, the majority of maintenance is planned based on the data that is gathered by sensors and monitors that provide diagnostics on the equipment. However, this reactive approach is often expensive, and if the event that spurs the maintenance is critical, problems can worsen considerably. Taking into account the high costs of unplanned maintenance and operation shutdowns, this can be an expensive fix.
Figuring out precisely when an asset will fail from the moment it is introduced to the field, on the other hand, can give a company longer lead times, making maintenance easier to schedule.
The science behind the solution is based on why and when damage sets in. By understanding friction’s timeline – and its damaging effects – the experts at Sentient have made it much easier to predict when failure will occur.
For those interested in learning more about Sentient’s Digital Clone solution and other breakthroughs in simulation testing, the company will hold a live streaming event on June 13 to explain in full the science of material failure, and how it has used the millions of dollars in grants it has received for research and development