Buffalo, New York – March 31, 2022 – Sentient Science Corporation, a leading developer of physics-based modeling solutions for digital twin applications, has entered into a formal agreement with QuesTek Innovations LLC, a global leader in Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) technologies, with the objective of fundamentally changing the way industries adopt and qualify advanced materials for new applications.
For safety-sensitive applications, such as aerospace, current material qualification processes for life critical parts can take up to ten years and cost tens of millions of dollars – mainly due to heavy dependence on physical testing. The Sentient/QuesTek team seeks to accelerate that process by using their combined expertise in modeling & simulation (M&S) technologies to develop industry-acceptable alternatives to reduce the total amount of physical testing requiring to achieve certification. QuesTek’s extensive expertise in ICME combined with Sentient’s advanced capabilities to predict fatigue life will be well-equipped to meet the challenge of reducing the cost and time of new material qualification – without compromising the engineering due diligence required to ensure safety standards are maintained.
“The qualification process is notoriously expensive and time consuming, due to the amount of physical testing that is currently required to confirm the performance limits are within acceptable margins of safety. We believe there are ways to incorporate digital technologies to achieve those same objectives, at a greatly reduced cost and much less time,” says Jason Rios, SVP of Defense for Sentient Science. “We want to help accelerate the implementation of the incredible new materials that companies like QuesTek are developing.”
The companies believe that recent industry movements toward digital transformation make this the ideal time to tackle this issue, and they are actively seeking industry partners ready to join this initiative.
“We now have the opportunity to develop strategies for our joint customers and introduce them to both Sentient’s software and QuesTek’s high performance materials and associated data,” said Dr. Jiadong Gong, QuesTek’s Chief Technology Officer. He added, “Our objective is to redefine how new materials are integrated, designed in and qualified for new applications.”
QuesTek and Sentient Science announced last year that their partnership would offer customers access to upgraded content, allowing DigitalClone® SaaS subscribers to upgrade and gain access to new libraries of advanced materials designed by QuesTek, including the high-performance alloys: Ferrium® C61TM; Ferrium C64®; Ferrium M54®; and Ferrium S53® steel that are widely used in aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications.
DigitalClone® is a physics-based computational modeling and design framework that simulates the microstructure of different components and their behavior. It calculates internal stresses caused by different applied loading conditions, accumulates internal damages resulting in crack nucleation and propagation, and investigates the performance and life prediction.
About Sentient Science
Sentient Science’s DigitalClone® software applies materials science and physics-based modeling to predict wear and fatigue damage of in the microstructure of critical components and major systems of helicopter drivetrains and rotating mechanical equipment. DigitalClone provides prognostic solutions impacting design, manufacturing, operations, sustainment, supply chain management, and many other aspects of the lifecycle of critical rotorcraft components. Sentient Science received the 2014 Tibbets Award at the White House for the role they played in research and development for the Government and for success in driving innovation into the industrial and energy marketplace, the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Pioneers Award in 2016 for commercialization of the DigitalClone software for life extension of wind turbines and Excellence in Wind Prognostics by Frost & Sullivan in 2017 and the 2020 Top Aviation Solution Providers by Aerospace & Defense Review.
For more information, please visit sentientscience.com or email contact@sentientscience.com
DigitalClone is a registered trademark of Sentient Science.
About QuesTek Innovations
For over 20 years, QuesTek has applied its metallurgical expertise and ICME technologies to efficiently create new materials meeting mission-specific performance. QuesTek has been engaged across a variety of industries to optimize commodity materials and design novel materials and processes for over 100 commercial and government clients in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information about QuesTek’s modeling and design capabilities, please visit www.questek.com.