FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Brentwood, TN, May 15, 2025 – The US Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program awarded VEXTEC a Phase I contract to modernize predictive lifing capabilities for components that are subjected to corrosive environments. Currently, the US Navy spends $3-$4 billion/year on corrosion mitigation activities, with a significant portion spent on the premature replacement or repair of components. Predictive technologies that incorporate better understanding of how corrosion mechanisms influence fatigue performance can be utilized to safely gain additional operation life from these components.

In this 6-month Phase I program, VEXTEC will investigate how its commercially available computational software VPS-MICRO^® can be linked to corrosion modeling schemes (pits, surface cracks, and near-surface cracks) for metallic alloys that are of interest to the Navy, and that an integrated cumulative damage growth simulation software tool is feasible for further development in a potential Phase II program. VEXTEC will collaborate with Dr. James Burns, a recognized expert in corrosion fatigue testing and modeling, to understand corrosion’s role in creating surface roughness conditions.

About VEXTEC:

VEXTEC Corporation is the home of VPS-MICRO, a unique microstructural fatigue durability prediction software based on ICME (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering). This technology fills a gap in the existing capabilities provided by CAD/CAM, FEA, statistical modeling, and physical material and component testing, by effectively integrating them into a single computational processing framework. Since 2000, VEXTEC has provided predictive analytics prognostics and life extension capabilities for hundreds of different products. VEXTEC’s clients include leading multinationals in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, heavy industry and medical device manufacturing sectors, as well as many federal government agencies. VEXTEC has seven US patents related to its technology. For more information on VEXTEC and VPS-MICRO software, visit: http://vextec.com.

AFRL and its primary collaborators (ARCTOS, The Barnes Global Advisors) have identified the main challenges in Q&C being:

1. effective/efficient non-destructive inspection techniques;
2. how to handle as-printed surfaces and articulate their debit to performance; and
3. lack of harmony in current Q&C approaches (multiple standards including AWS D20.1, NASA-STD-6033, AMS 7032, AMS 7003, EZ-SB-19-01).

The group has determined that adopting validated defect- and microstructure-inclusive modeling is the path forward to reduce the testing burden. They will explore the benefits of available modeling tools by comparing a “full testing” example to a “reduced testing” example that includes modeling, and demonstrating equivalent confidence between the two approaches. The proposed “reduced testing” example would take advantage of specimen-level testing (which is less expensive and time-consuming) to collect microstructure and defect data to inform the models. These models would then be used to predict equivalent initial damage size (EIDS) distributions and performance for a fully sized and geometrically complex part. Limited physical testing of parts would be used to validate the model-assisted analyses.

VEXTEC’s approach of model-assisted AM qualification aligns seamlessly with AFRL’s objective. Our VPS-MICRO® Software integrates materials science principles with standard structural engineering tools such as finite element analysis to model fatigue performance at the microstructural level, where damage actually occurs. Our tool has been used by both the Department of Defense as well as the private sector to predict the risk of cyclic fatigue failure of AM parts based on location-specific microstructure, defects, residual stress and surface roughness. Last month, VEXTEC was invited to participate in a QUASAR Program Update at AFRL offices in Dayton, Ohio. VEXTEC’s digital tools were highlighted as a means to integrate AM as-printed surface features.

AFRL QUASAR Program

VEXTEC looks forward to continuing our long-standing collaboration efforts with AFRL, and advocating for materials-based computational tools that lower barriers to AM adoption in the aerospace industry.

• integration of many conventional components into a single AM build;
• complex shapes and orientations;
• product volume control (short runs for sustainment vs. longer runs for new production); and
• limited post-build machining.

AM can bring 30-60% cost savings on complex, high-value parts in the aerospace industry. The limited post-build machining aspect is particularly attractive, in that it can eliminate many steps between production and end-use. As much as 20% of a part’s cost can be incurred during post-build machining to remove surface roughness effects. Another major potential for savings is reducing part count in complex assemblies, which creates internal and other hard-to-access surfaces that cannot be machined. Therefore, it is advantageous to computationally predict the impact of an AM as-printed surface (APS) on fatigue performance for metal parts. This can be done using our VPS-MICRO predictive software, by differentiating the APS from the machined surface in terms of stress and material properties.

While VPS-MICRO does not explicitly perform AM process modeling, it can model the effects on fatigue performance that result from a wide range of manufacturing processes such as surface roughness, residual stress, and heat treatment layers (carburizing, nitriding, etc.). The roughness due to APS typically comes from features like raised bumps due to AM powder unmelt, as well as extensive crevices (which likely exist along microstructural grain boundaries). These features can be effectively evaluated and measured using microscopy and/or serial sectioning.

After measuring these APS features, a 3D spatially varying probabilistic structural finite element analysis (FEA) can then be used to statistically model the stress effects from the features – some act as stress concentrations of undulating peaks and valleys, others act as sharp crack-like stress intensities. These can be represented by stress gradients which act on different size scales (micro-gradients and macro-gradients). It is the interactions between the stress concentrations and the stress intensities that contribute to fatigue crack nucleation and small flaw growth at the rough surface. These gradients from the FEA are direct inputs into VPS-MICRO.

Other contributing factors to fatigue of APS parts are found in the microstructure of the APS material itself. There can be material properties in the surface layer that are not found in the material’s core: voids of different sizes and shapes, depleted amounts of precipitates like carbides, etc. The core microstructure will be similar to the material of a smooth specimen (the APS being machined away). These layer differences can cause variations in local strength properties. While collecting the surface layer microstructural properties can be challenging, there are microcopy techniques available to assist. VPS-MICRO allows for input of multiple material layers, to effectively model these microstructural gradients.

The previously mentioned APS features can then be overlaid onto a standard VPS-MICRO analysis of a smooth, machined specimen. The resulting simulations provide quantitative information about how much fatigue debit there would be if the APS layer was not machined away. This type of computational analysis can help to avoid the “build-test-fail-repeat” iterative cycle that expends valuable resources during certification of an AM as-printed component.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Brentwood, TN (September 4, 2024) – VEXTEC Corporation was selected by Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI) to provide its VPS-MICRO Software for virtual testing and prediction of fatigue performance of metallic components, supporting the U.S. Navy. Software training for BPMI personnel has recently been completed, and BPMI’s initial focus will be to use the software to better understand component fatigue related to U.S. Navy mechanical components.

VPS-MICRO gives engineering teams and technical directors quantitative information to make quick decisions on component fatigue reliability and durability, by supplementing physical testing and providing increased confidence in accelerated qualification of parts. The software is compatible with nearly any material processing condition for metallic structural components: forging, casting, weldments, additive manufacturing (AM), surface treatments, etc. Clients have used the software to accelerate the push of AM into standard production and to identify causes of component fatigue failure.

VPS-MICRO, developed with the help of the U.S. government’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, addresses a gap in the existing capabilities of computer-aided design (CAD), finite element analysis (FEA) and physical material testing. VEXTEC’s technology effectively integrates these disciplines with probabilistic modeling into a single computational framework that accounts for material and processing variabilities.

“We are pleased BPMI has purchased a subscription of VPS-MICRO to add to its engineering toolbox,” said Bob Tryon, CEO and President of VEXTEC. “The virtual testing capabilities of our software can augment physical testing, reducing costly iterative testing loops and other resource burdens related to certification protocols. We are committed to fully supporting BPMI in its implementation and use of VPS-MICRO.”

About VEXTEC
Since 2000, VEXTEC Corporation has provided predictive analytics prognostics and life extension capabilities for hundreds of applications and products. VEXTEC’s clients include leading multinationals in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, heavy industry and medical device manufacturing sectors, as well as many federal government agencies. VEXTEC has seven U.S. patents related to its software technology. For more information on VEXTEC and VPS-MICRO software, visit vextec.com.

About Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc.
Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI) provides the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program high quality nuclear power plant components for submarines and aircraft carriers. For more information, visit www.bpmionline.com.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., April 28, 2020—VEXTEC^® Corporation in Nashville, TN, has been awarded a small business innovative research (SBIR) contract, supported by Aerojet Rocketdyne, to develop an additive manufacturing certification framework for Air Force applications, with the objective of accelerating the qualification and adoption process for new additive manufactured materials, augmenting the traditional verification process with a model-informed software tool called VPS-MICRO^®.

The VEXTEC developed software, VPS-MICRO, is an Integrated Computational Material Engineering (ICME) based tool that predicts the risk of cyclic fatigue failure of an additive manufactured metal part based on the location specific microstructure, defects, residual stress and surface roughness. Using the software eliminates unsuccessful design options early in the design processes. Also, the software greatly reduces the test cost and time needed to determine the statistical confidence in the certified lifetime instead of having to acquire a large population of fatigue tests needed to do the same.

“We are leveraging real word data we’ve collected like fatigue strength and microstructure to create a digital model that can be used to predict the critical fatigue failure points of a component and simulate how surface features affect overall component strength,” said Dan Matejczyk,  Materials and Process Engineer,  Aerojet Rocketdyne. “The goal is to have a mix of physical test data combined with virtual data to accelerate the qualification process. Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide years of historical test data and VEXTEC will provide the software modeling capability.”

Rapid and reliable part qualification is necessary for additive manufactured components to realize their potential benefits. However, variability in microstructure and surface features may be significant, and must be managed for assured reliability. This program’s certification framework, methods and tools will assure component performance and reliability while enabling additive manufacturing schedule and cost advantages.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, a leader in additive manufacturing for more than a decade, will support VEXTEC in incorporating the additive manufacturing certification with computational fatigue models into a standard work process.

Jeff Haynes, Additive Manufacturing Program Manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne, noted that “With regard to additive manufacturing, we need to answer questions like: Where does modeling fit into the certification process? What is the best mix of analysis and testing? What are viable near-term solutions and what are the long-term goals for computationally enhanced certification processes that will be useful in the broader aerospace industry to produce highly-reliable parts.”

VEXTEC’s SBIR technology transition plan (STTP) for its current Phase II work involves further maturing of its VPS-MICRO software to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) through validation testing, and working with Aerojet Rocketdyne and the company’s DoD partners. This maturation beyond the Phase II level intends to focus on computational predictive modeling of additive manufactured parts in order to meet the Air Force’s needs in process development, vendor qualification/process control, and airworthiness certification.

“We feel that VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO: additive manufacturing software can be an integral tool in this effort because it represents the integration of additive manufacturing process modeling with performance prediction to provide a better tool for certification. Having Aerojet Rocketdyne’s keen interest will assure the process will interface with the commercial engineering practice,” noted Dr. Bob Tryon, VEXTEC’s President and CTO.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne:
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion systems and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, and tactical systems areas, in support of domestic and international customers. For more information, visit www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com. Follow Aerojet Rocketdyne and CEO Eileen Drake on Twitter at @AerojetRdyne and @DrakeEileen.

About VEXTEC:

VEXTEC Corporation has a unique microstructural fatigue durability prediction software based on ICME (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering) to predict long-term product durability. This technology fills a gap in the existing capabilities provided by CAD/CAM, FEA, statistical modeling, and physical material and component testing, by effectively integrating them into a single computational processing framework. VEXTEC’s clients include leading multinationals in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, heavy industry and medical device manufacturing sectors, as well as many federal government agencies. VEXTEC has also received several grants from the United States Department of Defense through its Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR/STTR) programs. VEXTEC has been granted seven patents related to its technology.

For more information, visit: https://vextec.com/

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., November 18, 2019 – VEXTEC was selected to be an awardee at the Air Force’s inaugural Technical Executive Officer Pitch Day, held near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio on November 15, 2019. This marked the second Pitch Day award that VEXTEC garnered in the same week; VEXTEC was also awarded a Pitch Day contract from the Air Force’s Rapid Sustainment Office for Additive Manufacturing on November 13, 2019.

VEXTEC’s pitch for enhancing computational methodologies for durability performance prediction of metallic components made by Additive Manufacturing (AM) was well-received by the Air Force’s representatives from Acquisition, Technology, Logistics, and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). VEXTEC’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Bob Tryon, and Chief Product Development Officer, Dr. Animesh Dey, were on-hand to make the pitch and receive the award.

VEXTEC accepting the Air Force Research Laboratory’s funding award at the inaugural Technical Executive Officer Pitch Day, on November 15 2019 in Dayton, Ohio. Pictured left to right are: Lt. General Duke Richardson (Military Deputy at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Dr. Animesh Dey (VEXTEC’s Chief of Product Development), Dr. Bob Tryon (VEXTEC’s Chief of Technology), and Maj. General William Cooley (Commander at the Air Force Research Laboratory) Photo credit: AFRL.

VEXTEC’s pitched SBIR technology transition plan (STTP) for its current Phase II work involves further maturing of its VPS-MICRO predictive durability software to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) through validation testing, and working with industrial and DoD partners. This maturation beyond the Phase II level intends to focus on computational predictive modeling of AM parts, to meet the Air Force’s needs in process development, outside vendor qualification/process control, and airworthiness certification.

“The Air Force needs a path to efficiently certify AM products to realize maximum gains with regards to airworthiness, sustainment and fleet readiness objectives. We feel that VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO:AM software can be an integral tool in this effort,” Dr. Tryon said.

In total, $14 million in total SBIR funding was awarded at the Pitch Day event, to small businesses from across the country specializing in many different areas. Lt. General Duke Richardson (of the Office of Air Force Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in Arlington, Virginia) closed the event with an enthusiastic statement to all of the awardees: “Today was fun! Tomorrow, let’s get after it. Give us even more than we’re expecting.” We intend to, sir!

• Microstructure : In its most basic sense, a material’s microstructure is the DNA that describes how the material will behave. VPS-MICRO’s mechanistic modeling approach accounts for the variability in key microstructural parameters. This makes it ideally-suited for the AM process, where microstructure is heavily dependent upon the printer machine’s parameter settings (scan speed, layer thickness, laser power, hatch spacing, etc.).

• Residual Stresses : Depending on their post-build processes, AM-built components can exhibit significant and complex residual stresses. This is due to the directionality of the layer-by-layer printing, and the subsequent cooling/solidification kinematics. VPS-MICRO can explicitly incorporate residual stress profiles in its computational framework, allowing for accurate definitions of localized stress states.

• Surface Roughness : Part of the attractiveness of AM is that the part can be built in its near-net shape, so little or no machining is necessary. An as-manufactured AM surface is rough by nature, and this roughness takes the form of a microstructurally-thin layer of stress concentration at all points along the surface (analogous to a surface after having experienced corrosion). Recent enhancements to VPS-MICRO provide modeling of these variations in stress concentration along a part’s surface.

VPS-MICRO for Certification of Structural Aerospace Components Built by AM

VEXTEC is collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on a NAVAIR-funded project to develop a computational material engineering software tool. The goal is to decrease the time and money needed to certify an AM-built structural component exposed to fatigue loading. Certification is an important obstacle to overcome, for widespread adoption of AM technology to occur in any industry. VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO software tool for AM uses all available data and information to develop the material models. These models are computational and physics-based, and can predict other materials and microstructures to extrapolate outside of the test database. The material models are probabilistic, to predict the tails of the distributions that actually govern minimum properties. The models can be updated as more data and knowledge become available.

The computational tool integrates AM process information, material properties, computational models and microstructural damage tolerance simulations into the design and material certification process. VEXTEC’s toolbox of previously-developed software modules assesses the durability of parts processed by traditional methods of casting, forging, rolling, machining and welding. Additional modules have been more-recently developed to determine the durability of sophisticated methods such as powder metallurgy, single-crystal fabrication, and additive methods like Electron Beam Melting (EBM). In this project, the VEXTEC/ORNL team is using the tools to simulate the static and cyclic strength tests that are needed to certify EBM-produced titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. The program demonstrates a proof of concept capability: evaluating the variabilities in processing, geometry (surface finish) and microstructure, and their contributions to the uncertainty in durability.

VPS-MICRO to Predict AM Processing Variabilities

VEXTEC recently contributed to an Air Force research program on Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of the nickel superalloy Mondaloy, a desirable rocket engine material due to its tolerance of high-pressure gaseous oxygen. The research team, which included Aerojet Rocketdyne as the prime contractor, was tasked with creating models that link the variation in AM processing conditions to the microstructure of the resultant material. An extensive design of experiments matrix was conducted, to study the process sensitivity for off-nominal AM machine settings. A multitude of AM Mondaloy engine nozzles was built, each one having a different amount of defective material (representing different off-nominal machine parameter combinations).

VEXTEC was tasked with simulating failures from monotonic loading, and used these simulations in the static strength certification. Aerojet had performed a large number of microstructural observations of the various processing conditions. These data provided the inputs to VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO simulations, to predict the probability of failure for the various microstructural conditions. It was only after the simulations were run, that Aerojet conducted the physical cyclic proof and bust tests of the nozzles. The failing burst pressure and the nozzle burst locations were accurately predicted by VPS-MICRO.

The future is bright for additive manufacturing, as well as for predictive durability modeling of additively manufactured components!

VEXTEC and AM: Built Together