Stress Analysis & Airworthiness Analysis

Colley Aerospace has over 30 years of experience providing our clients with detailed stress analysis and airworthiness analyses on various military, aviation, and spaceflight programs. We performed the airworthiness/flightworthiness substantiation on hardware and systems that have flown on the following flight vehicles:

Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) Missions (33 Different Flights)

Spacecraft and Launch Vehicles:

• Delta III
• Delta IV
• Falcon I
• Minotaur IV
• Navy SM-2
• Navy SM-3
• Spacelab Module
• SpaceX Dragon

Helicopter Platforms:

• AH-64 Apache
• AW-129 Mangusta
• AW-189
• Bell 212
• Bell 429
• CH-47 Chinook
• Kiowa Warrior
• Mi-171
• OH-58
• SH-60 Seahawk
• UH-60 Blackhawk
• UH-72 Lakota

Fixed-Wing Aircraft:

• C-130
• ICON A5
• LJ-200
• Mitsubishi MRJ
• NASA WB-57
• P-8A Poseidon
• Spectrum S33
• Spectrum S40

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:

• Amazon Prime Drone
• MQ-1 Grey Eagle

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Tools

Over the past thirty years, Colley Aerospace has accumulated thousands of hours of experience using various Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software packages:

• MSC/NASTRAN
• MSC/PATRAN
• MSC/DYTRAN
• MSC/ADAMS
• LS-DYNA
• NX/NASTRAN
• FEMAP
• CSA NASTRAN
• NASTRAN DMAP

Stress Analysis Capabilities

Our FEA experience covers both linear and nonlinear behavior, including contact/material nonlinearities and high-strain rate deformations. Our personnel are also very proficient in performing stress analyses using classical hand analysis techniques. We have developed a number of tools, codes, and spreadsheets that are based on classical or closed-form solutions. These tools were developed, verified, and approved for use on multiple Government programs.

Using finite element techniques and/or classical solutions, our engineers have the experience to conduct an effective strength analysis to assess and verify the structural integrity of a given component and/or assembly. Using the design environments required for a flight program, we have the requisite experience to design and analyze flight hardware to resist all loads and combinations of loads that may reasonably be expected to occur during its lifecycle. Using standard analytical techniques, we can show by analysis that the hardware meets the program design requirements with sufficient margin of safety to assure adequate strength, service life, rigidity, and safety of personnel at all times.

As standard practice, a stress analysis report will be submitted in support of the airworthiness certification review data package. The stress analysis report is prepared in accordance with standard aerospace industry practices for flight hardware. That is, the analyses will clearly identify such items as a geometric description of each component, identification of all applied loads, types of material and applicable strength allowables, environments and effects, proper identification of references for all input into the analyses, and a summary of all calculated margins of safety.

If you are looking for expertise in one of the areas listed below, please contact us to discuss your project and analysis needs.

• FEA Expertise
• Classical Hand Analysis Expertise (Closed-Form Solutions)
• Composite Materials
• Metallic Materials
• Linear and Nonlinear Behavior
• Material and Geometric Nonlinearity
• Large Aerospace Structures
• Linear and Nonlinear Buckling of Flight Hardware
• Fastener Analysis
• High Strain Rate Solutions
• Transient Response Analysis
• Acoustic Analysis
• Dynamic Finite Element Model Correlation