Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
HeldenSurface: A CAD Tool to Generate High-Quality Surfaces
Project Description
One of the primary shortcomings identified during the NASA sponsored CFD Vision 2030 Study conducted during 2012-2014 was that the generation of meshes suitable for CFD simulations constitutes a principal bottleneck in the workflow process as it requires significant human intervention. Our solution to this problem is the development of HeldenSurface, which is a robust tool for automatially converting arbitrary starting geometry definitions into a collection of watertight CAD surfaces. These CAD surfaces are then used as the starting point for existing commercial grid generators such as our HeldenMesh unstructured grid generator. This represents a critical capability needed to automate the CFD mesh generation process – permitting the thousands of engineers performing CFD to focus their efforts on interpreting results instead of generating meshes. The feasibility of HeldenSurface was proven during our Phase I effort through its successful demonstration on multiple test cases. Our Phase II effort builds upon this past success by focusing on its further development and demonstration, testing, and completion of commercialization assessments. We offer a proven path to commercialization of HeldenSurface by leveraging our current success with the commercialization of our HeldenMesh grid generation software and we anticipate offering HeldenSurface as a commercial product within 2 years of completion of the Phase II effort.
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Anticipated Benefits
The successful completion of our proposed Phase II effort results in a validated method (HeldenSurface) for automatically converting arbitrary geometries (such as a cloud of points, "dirty" CAD, or CFD meshes) into a collection of watertight CAD surfaces that are smooth, connected, and split into as few number of surfaces as possible. As described in the technical proposal, this represents a critical capability needed to automate the CFD mesh generation process, which is the primary bottleneck in the application of CFD. The development of HeldenSurface would permit the hundreds NASA's engineers performing CFD to focus their energies on interpreting results instead of generating meshes.
Helden Aerospace has already successfully transitioned its existing HeldenMesh commercial grid generator to companies such as Gulfstream, Boom Technologies, The Spaceship Company, and NASA Langley Research Center. These same customers have been repeatedly requesting the capabilities that HeldenSurface offer -- indicating strong demand for the product. The completion of this Phase II effort would further improve the HeldenMesh grid generation process through nearly complete automation. The development of HeldenSurface will result in a product with strong commercial viability. We offer a viable commercialization strategy by first offering HeldenSurface to our existing customers, expanding our customer base within the aerospace industry, and then growing our market into universities and non-aerospace applications (automotive, oil and gas, electronic, etc.). More »
Helden Aerospace has already successfully transitioned its existing HeldenMesh commercial grid generator to companies such as Gulfstream, Boom Technologies, The Spaceship Company, and NASA Langley Research Center. These same customers have been repeatedly requesting the capabilities that HeldenSurface offer -- indicating strong demand for the product. The completion of this Phase II effort would further improve the HeldenMesh grid generation process through nearly complete automation. The development of HeldenSurface will result in a product with strong commercial viability. We offer a viable commercialization strategy by first offering HeldenSurface to our existing customers, expanding our customer base within the aerospace industry, and then growing our market into universities and non-aerospace applications (automotive, oil and gas, electronic, etc.). More »
Project Library
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helden Aerospace Corporation | Lead Organization | Industry | Acworth, Georgia |
Langley Research Center
(LaRC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Hampton, Virginia |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Georgia
-
Virginia
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