Afgrow

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Afgrow - ( A ir F orce Grow th) - Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue Crack Growth Analysis Software is a software for fracture mechanics and crack growth calculations in the context of stability studies of metallic materials. It is primarily used in the construction of aircraft and can be operated on conventional x86 computers.

The development of the software was pushed by the US Navy and the US Air Force . It is made available today as free software by the American Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) .

history

ASDGRO

The roots of the software go back to the Crack Growth Life Prediction Program ASDGRO, which was written in BASIC by Ed Davidson for IBM PCs in the early 1980s . In 1985 ASDGRO was the standard software for calculations on the Sikorsky H-53 helicopter family (such as the CH-53 ).

MODGRO

In 1987 the software was further developed by James Harter of Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories (AFWAL / FIBEC) to MODGRO V1.X and in 1989 it was revised in Turbo Pascal. The NASA used it in the trials of the Grumman X-29 flight model to validate and optimize the test flights under extreme loads on the tail .

The simultaneous implementation by Dr. George Sendeckyj in C turned out to be faster and was used from then on. The source code changed completely in the course of development, but the name MODGRO was retained. Only small changes were made until 1993 - it was not until the US Navy demanded a program to determine the influence of environmental conditions on the damage capacity of aircraft that further development was brought about on a large scale. The WL / FIBEC department was in charge in the future. With the adaptation of the code in version 3.0, a UNIX interface was created that met the requirement for high computing power.

AFGROW

In 1994 another contract was signed with the Navy, whose demand for a renaming of the software, following the implementation of the programming of AFGROW V3.0 for Microsoft Windows 95 , began in October 1996. The Windows-optimized hardware soon had greater performance reserves and support for the Unix system was terminated in coordination with the AFRL / VASE service center that was now responsible. 1997/98 the software was used for the US Navy FLEETLIFE program on the Hawker Siddeley Harrier AV-8. The Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) server technology was also used here, which from then on enabled use on any Windows system. In 1998 the number of end users grew rapidly; The development aid granted at that time by the Air Force Air Logistic Center (ALC) and the funds brought in by the Air Force Aging Aircraft Office (ASC / SMS) achieved further product improvements. A Power Macintosh version was presented in late 1998 for survey purposes, but was immediately discontinued due to a lack of demand. AFGROW's development work continues.

Functions

  • With the development for Microsoft Windows, the user friendliness could be improved. Parameter input masks are available to the user.
  • Afgrow can calculate and superimpose several cracks independently.
  • A tool for calculating carbon fiber reinforcements when repairing known cracks in metals enables the number and fiber direction of the fabrics to be determined.

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