About Collier Research

Business Profile

Collier Research Corporation has provided methods research and software development to NASA and the aerospace industry since 1995. In addition to internally funding software development, Collier Research is actively converting NASA, industry, and university developed research software into HyperSizer. Our company knows that in order to be usable by industry, engineering software must be robust, well supported, verified, intuitive, graphical, and allow the engineer to be highly productive.

“A Hampton Roads company [Collier Research Corporation] has become the first to license computer software from NASA Langley as part of the agency's effort to transfer technology to U.S. businesses.” “This is a pioneering step for both NASA and the company, Collier Research & Development Corp. For NASA, it represents the emerging recognition of the value of computer software as a potentially licensable technology. The software intellectual property rights are being treated similarly to hardware patent rights. For Collier R&D, it represents a broadening of its business from engineering consulting to developers and marketers of software technology.“ - NASA News Press Release May 23, 1996

HyperSizer Development History

A strategy... to combine finite element analysis (FEA) with an automated design procedure was conceived at NASA Langley Research Center in the early 1980s and has evolved, through a series of precursor codes into this version of HyperSizer for analyzing the strength and stability of stiffened panels constructed of any material, including fiber-reinforced composites. Of particular note is the NASA code referred to as ST-SIZE (ST-SIZE© 1996 NASA. All rights reserved.). Collier Research Corporation obtained an exclusive, all fields of use license to ST-SIZE in May 1996. (Collier Research employees were principal developers of ST-SIZE and have been continually developing the software and analytical methods for the last twelve years).

Collier Research is combining the NASA LaRC ST-SIZE copyright research code with other company proprietary software. The combined computer software is marketed with the trademark HyperSizer®. (HyperSizer© 1996 Collier Research & Development Corp. All rights reserved.). HyperSizer has user support, training, maintenance, and documentation. More importantly though, Collier Research is providing accelerated R&D, greatly expanded capability and features, a graphical user interface (GUI), an integrated database management system, and the ability to integrate with other FEA modelers and solvers.

On to the history... NASA led development of ST-SIZE from 1988 to 1995. Two major versions of ST-SIZE were developed, each having completely re-written equations and code. The original version of ST-SIZE included formulations for stiffness terms and thermal expansion coefficients based on approximations commonly taken in traditional design methods.

During development of the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) X-30 airframe and engine, a 1990 version of ST-SIZE was developed for structural design and weight prediction. Continued studies of NASP and other hypersonic vehicle structural designs exposed areas of more and more complex thermo-structural interaction and identified needs for even more accurate methods of formulating panel stiffness and thermal expansion coefficients. In addition, new design checks and features to enhance the code's usefulness were desired.

A novel method... for formulation of stiffened panel properties was conceived and developed starting in 1991. A method for accurately including composite lamina and laminate data in the formulation of stiffened panel structural properties was first developed. Thermal coefficients created to handle both in-plane and through-the-thickness temperature gradients for membrane, bending, and membrane-bending coupling were also introduced and mathematically proven. Shortly thereafter a method was developed to input these thermal expansion and bending coefficients into the MSC/NASTRAN FEA program using a model with a single plane of finite elements. (Other solvers are now supported such as I-DEAS). The significance of including fully defined thermoelastic data for an entire aircraft analysis was proven with the general formulation of panel thermoelastic stiffness terms. During this time the accuracy of the formulations were demonstrated with finely meshed 3-D FEA. These developments formed part of the foundation for the current version of HyperSizer.

The earlier codes were originally intended for weight prediction but evolved into ones that were able to assess structural integrity and find optimum sizes and materials.

This evolution... has enabled HyperSizer to benefit from the experience of various different structural sizing methods to 'real world' problems. HyperSizer includes the best of each for a mature foundation to advance from. With emphasis on composites, HyperSizer has recently improved macromechanics and implemented micromechanic analysis of the fiber and matrix constituents.