The U.S. Government has supported computational testing to provide competitive advantage to manufacturers since 2001.

  • $24MSmall Business Innovative
    Research (SBIR) Investment
  • 13Years of Development, Validation
    and Commercialization
  • $300BCombined Revenues of Sentient
    Science’s Commercial Customers

 
Companies perform extensive hardware testing of critical rotating components and systems. These tests help predict if products will meet their life goals under different operations and design variables. However, manufacturers are increasingly seeking advanced manufacturing methods to meet their reliability goals while reducing time-to-customer and expenses.

DARPA was the first agency to invest in computational testing research and development in 2001 with the question, “What if manufacturers could perform much more testing within their budget and time restrictions?”

Under competitive research programs, the Sentient Science team developed and validated a highly accurate life prediction technology based on multibody dynamics, tribology, material science, and real world variability. The key breakthrough was prediction of subsurface crack initiation and propagation at the material microstructure. Cracks in the material microstructure account for ninety percent (90%) of a rotating component’s life before mechanical failure.

Testing and design teams, can now use DigitalClone models to computationally test their new products. With high performance cloud computing, the prognostic models can be quickly developed and interrogated to evaluate design and operations trade studies. This capability gives manufacturers much more information of their product’s future life and performance in their customer’s applications.

 

About National Science Foundation (NSF)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…” With an annual budget of $7.2 billion (FY 2014), we are the funding source for approximately 21 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.