“Through [StressCheck] we are able to model, analyze and predict failure of aircraft structures and then develop crucial inspection and maintenance plans to ensure the safety and sustainability of our nation’s warplanes. Without the analysis capability provided to us through StressCheck we would not be able to provide accurate assessments of the A-10 structure to top USAF leadership.” – Southwest Research Institute Manager

Many manufacturing or metal forming processes (such as cold working of holes) can induce residual stress throughout the volume of material. These bulk residual stresses (BRS) can significantly influence fatigue life, structural stability, failure loads, and distortion after machining. StressCheck allows such stresses, or the corresponding eigenstrains, to be included in linear analyses with industry-leading solution quality assurance procedures.

The effects of residual stresses can be beneficial, as in life extension by cold working, or detrimental, requiring reworking or rejecting manufactured parts. Reliably simulating effects of residual stresses is challenging due to extreme stress gradients. With the technology in StressCheck, representing rapidly changing stresses over short distances is a breeze.