Case Studies

Analysis that held up in review.

Selected project work, followed by the verification benchmarks we use to prove out our methods. Client names are withheld unless we have permission to share them.

Von Mises stress plot of a glass-filled PPS fluid housing at 120 psi working pressure, with peak stress at the mounting-ear fillet
Von Mises stress at maximum working pressure. Peak stress sits at the mounting-ear fillet.

Structural FEA · Automotive fluid systems

Pressure qualification of a glass-filled polymer housing

Challenge. A customer needed confidence that a 40% glass-filled PPS housing would survive working, proof and burst pressure, including at 300 °F where the plastic loses most of its strength.

Approach. Three load cases were run: 120 psi working, 150 psi proof and 180 psi burst. Supplier temperature data was used to derate tensile strength from 190 MPa at room temperature to 65 MPa at 300 °F. The mesh was refined at stress concentrations until results changed by less than 3% between runs.

Result. Peak stresses of 5,249, 6,561 and 7,873 psi gave a positive factor of safety in every case, including burst pressure at temperature. That supported moving to qualification testing with the proposed material and a high-temperature alternative.

Von Mises stress plot of the polymer housing at 180 psi burst pressure
Burst case (180 psi): peak von Mises stress of 7,873 psi.
Resultant displacement plot of the polymer housing at working pressure, largest at the free end
Working-pressure displacement: 0.0039 in maximum.
Refined tetrahedral finite element mesh of the polymer housing with local mesh controls at fillets and grooves
Converged mesh with local refinement at fillets and grooves.
Magnetic flux density contour lines around a cross-section of a permanent ring magnet
Flux density contours through a cross-section of a permanent ring magnet.

Electromagnetic Simulation · Aerospace sensors

Magnet geometry study for a debris sensor

Challenge. A magnetic sensor's sensitivity depends on the shape of the field near the magnet. Small geometry changes such as a countersink, chamfer or counterbore can move or weaken the region the sensor relies on.

Approach. An N42 neodymium ring magnet and six geometry variants were modeled in electromagnetic simulation. Flux density was extracted along the centerline and across the cross-section of each.

Result. A side-by-side comparison of field strength and null-point location for each variant, which narrowed the design to the geometry best suited to the sensor before any magnets were ordered.

Three-dimensional magnetic field magnitude plot around a ring magnet, with low-field null regions above and below the bore
Field magnitude in 3D. The low-field null regions sit above and below the bore.
Von Mises stress plot of an aluminum fuel-system valve body under a pressure-surge load case, peak stress 51,865 psi
Von Mises stress (psi) for the most severe surge load case.

Structural FEA · Aerospace fuel systems

Pressure-surge loading of a fuel-system valve body

Challenge. An updated system requirement added pressure-surge (water hammer) loading to an existing aluminum valve body. The question was whether the qualified design could absorb the new loads without a redesign.

Approach. The surge requirement was converted into three static load cases, each combining internal pressure with axial load, shear and bending moment at the interface. Each case was solved in Ansys Mechanical and compared with the alloy's yield strength and its fatigue endurance limit at operating temperature.

Result. Combined stresses exceeded the endurance limit in every case, and the worst case reached roughly two and a half times that limit. Based on that margin, we recommended a material and design change rather than qualification by similarity, before any hardware was committed to test.

Von Mises stress plot of the valve body under surge load case 1, peak stress 26,294 psi at the outlet flange
Load case 1: peak 26,294 psi at the outlet flange.
Von Mises stress plot of the valve body under surge load case 3, peak stress 22,793 psi at the outlet flange
Load case 3: peak 22,793 psi at the outlet flange.

More Project Work

Aerospace, defense and industrial analysis

Vibration Analysis · Turbofan engines

Engine oil level sensor vibration

Modal and random vibration analysis of an oil level sensor mounted on commercial and military turbofan engines, used to confirm resonance margins and fatigue life against the engine vibration environment.

CFD · Defense

Pressure drop through a fluid-system component

CFD of internal flow to predict pressure drop and flow distribution across the operating range, which drives pump sizing and system-level performance.

Structural FEA · Military aerospace

Fifth-generation fighter aircraft component

Structural analysis of a flight-hardware component for a fifth-generation fighter program, covering pressure, vibration and thermal loading against program requirements.

Structural FEA · Industrial equipment

Heavy-duty equipment cart

Frame and weldment analysis of a mobile cart under rated load, including caster and handle loads, to confirm stress and deflection margins.

Structural FEA · Fluid systems

PAO hydraulic fluid skid

Structural analysis of a skid-mounted PAO hydraulic fluid system, covering lifting, transport and operating loads on the base frame and component mounts.

Verification Benchmarks

Methods you can check

Time-marched CFD runs and problems with known textbook answers. The textbook images are generated from those reference solutions, and our models are checked against them.

CFD velocity field and streamlines through a globe valve

Globe valve flow (time-marched CFD)

Velocity and streamlines: the seat jet reaches about 6× inlet velocity, with recirculation on both sides.

CFD static pressure field through a globe valve, showing the pressure drop across the seat

Globe valve pressure drop

Static pressure falls sharply across the seat and plug. This is the loss that sets pump and valve sizing.

Animated vorticity field of vortex shedding behind a cylinder

Vortex shedding (time-marched CFD)

Alternating vortices at Re = 150. The shedding frequency sets flow-induced vibration of pins, probes and tubes.

Von Mises stress contour on a plate with a central hole under uniaxial tension

Stress concentration at a hole

Peak stress reaches three times the applied stress (Kt = 3.0), matching the Kirsch solution.

Finite element mesh with graded refinement around a circular hole

Mesh refinement

Element size graded from the stress gradient outward, and re-solved until the answer stops changing.

Bending stress contour on the exaggerated deformed shape of a cantilever beam

Cantilever bending

Bending stress and tip deflection checked against Euler–Bernoulli beam theory.

Temperature contour of a finned heat sink heated at the base

Heat sink conduction

Steady conduction with fin convection, showing where added fin height stops paying off.

Pressure coefficient contour and streamlines around a cambered airfoil at angle of attack

Airfoil pressure distribution

Compared with the Joukowski solution and the Kutta–Joukowski lift theorem.

Velocity magnitude contour and streamlines around a rotating cylinder

Rotating cylinder flow

Asymmetric velocity field and Magnus side force, in agreement with potential-flow theory.

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