LIFT Off: Raytheon

Efficient Microstructure-Sensitive Large-Deformation Process Model

The Raytheon Technologies Research Center (RTRC) serves as the innovation hub for Raytheon Technologies Corporation with the goal to empower innovation among the company’s businesses and to work with major universities and national laboratories on groundbreaking research projects. RTRC has approximately 300 researchers and engineers, 85% of which holds advance degrees. RTRC has an advanced facility in microstructure analysis, accelerated test facility and failure analysis. Raytheon Technologies Corporation combines aerospace business units Pratt and Whitney (engines), Collins Aerospace focused on Aerostructures and Controls, Raytheon Intelligence and Space Program and Raytheon Missiles and Defense Program.

The presented project sought to extend the capability and applicability of an ICME model for large-deformation material processing. An efficient high performance computing (HPC) parallelization approach was integrated with a microstructure-sensitive large-deformation microstructure-based forging model. The ability to run the model in a distributed memory environment significantly reduces runtime and permits material processing and, in particular, forging simulations of actual, complex parts. Furthermore, it promotes use of the physics-based microstructural model in engineering standard work and design practice. The program focused on improving the efficiency of a thermomechanical processing model and included enhancing the efficiency of the crystal plasticity model and modifying the numerical model to allow it to run on many CPUs in a distributed memory paradigm. Extension of the forging model to massively parallel processing (MPP) yields unique physics-based capabilities combined with HPC compatibility.