Monday, March 17, 2008:

Techno-Sciences, Inc., in collaboration with the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at the University of Maryland at College Park have been awarded a Phase I SBIR contract by the U.S. Navy to develop a comprehensive, predictive analysis tool to quantify helicopter rotor and dynamic component stresses. According to TSi's Principal Investigator, Dr. Gang Wang, the TSI/UMD Advanced Rotorcraft Load Prediction (ARLP) tool will be developed in Phase I based on combined analytical and experimental approaches. The SBIR team will exploit a coupled aerodynamic/structural framework with experimental measurements of stresses, accelerations, and loads, to iteratively improve the analytical predictions via an integrated optimization scheme. In addition to enabling improved vehicle performance through optimized design, the ARLP will provide valuable information to the Navy and other operators on critical component useful service lives. This health usage monitoring approach will serve as the foundation for condition-based maintenance that is expected to result in significant reductions in the total ownership costs of helicopters.