Hill Engineering Blog

2024 AFGROW User Workshop

Hill Engineering recently presented at the 2024 AFGROW User Workshop in Layton, UT, that was held from September 10th through September 11th. If you were at the conference, we hope you enjoyed your time.

This workshop aims to provide a forum for AFGROW users to exchange information and ideas related to fracture and fatigue, network with others in the industry, as well as talk with the AFGROW developers and community.

Hill Engineering’s presentation included a summary of recent work on the transition to using AFGROW for fatigue crack growth analysis to support the B-52 ASIP team. The abstract text is presented below.

The B-52 ASIP team is pushing to start using AFGROW for their fleetwide DTA support, as the OEM legacy crack growth analysis software is no longer being supported.

Work is already underway to facilitate the transition process, including the development and use of an A-10 based Excel COM file to run fatigue crack growth analyses in AFGROW for many B-52 details. Comparisons and sensitivity studies are being performed to ensure a smooth, sensible transition occurs and that the models, parameters, and settings used in AFGROW provide the best fit for B-52 ASIP needs.

This work is part of a larger effort being supported by the A-10 ASIP team and contractors, and includes other tasks such as material testing, spectrum testing, residual stress measurement, spectra development verification, detailed damage tolerance analysis incorporating residual stresses, and organic analysis capability development.

If you have questions or would like to discuss Hill Engineering’s capabilities in both fatigue analysis and design and residual stress measurement, please contact us for more information.