Spinoff story
Simulation Software
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
Various NASA Small Business Innovation Research grants from Marshall Space Flight Center, Langley Research Center and Ames Research Center were used to develop the kernel" of COMCO's modeling and simulation software the PHLEX finite element code. NASA needed it to model designs of flight vehicles; one of many customized commercial applications is UNISIM a PHLEX-based code for analyzing underground flows in oil reservoirs for Texaco Inc. COMCO's products simulate a computational mechanics problem estimate the solution's error and produce the optimal hp-adapted mesh for the accuracy the user chooses. The system is also used as a research or training tool in universities and in mechanical design in industrial corporations."