Case Study: NASA Glenn Research Center achieves faster, safer engine analysis with MSC Software's Rotor Dynamics

NASA Studies Improved Engine Performance with New Rotor Dynamics Code

NASA Glenn Research Center worked with MSC Software to improve engine-performance and rotor-dynamics analysis for aerospace applications. The center needed a faster, more standardized way to model complex rotor behavior, including maneuver loads, microgravity experiments, and blade-out events, because existing home-grown codes were difficult to maintain and share across organizations.

Using MSC.Nastran and MSC.Nastran Rotor Dynamics, MSC Software provided a common platform for large-scale rotor-dynamics simulation, model reduction, and transient analysis. The solution helped NASA Glenn streamline data exchange, run virtual blade-out tests, and better predict structural loads, reducing the risk of costly physical test failures; in one example, it could replace hand calculations, and it supports avoiding repeated blade-out tests that can cost around $10 million each.

Glenn Research Center - Nasa

Charles Lawrence

Structural Engineer, Structures and Acoustics Division