COSMOS helps build innovative gyroplane designs

Company Groen Brothers Aviation Industry Aerospace/Defense Location U.S.A. Product Used COSMOSWorks Type of Analysis Linear Static, Thermal More Details

The Challenge
Groen Brothers Aviation, Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah is the developer of the Hawk Gyroplane, a new family of economical aircraft. Until recently, helicopters were usually considered the only viable aircraft to use when runways are not available or if slow flight is required. However, the gyroplane is a low cost alternative rapidly gaining popularity in a number of industries. Like the helicopter, gyroplanes can take off and land vertically, but since gyroplanes must always be in forward motion, they cannot hover. In order to build a gyroplane that will hold up under all expected loads, the engineer must understand how each component in the aircraft is loaded and how much load it can withstand. The high degree of complexity of airframes makes design analysis extremely challenging.

The Solution
Groen Brothers engineers turned to COSMOS™ software to meet the challenge. In testing their designs, COSMOS is used before prototypes are constructed, which reduces testing costs, introduces greater innovation, and shortens development time. COSMOS was used to perform a variety of structural and thermal analyses on many components of the aircraft at all stages of the design cycle.

Summary and Metrics:

• Reduced testing costs
• Enabled engineers to modify designs to achieve a minimum weight while providing adequate strength
• Shortened development time