To Infinity and Beyond: How SE Corp. Helped NASA using SolidWorks

Similar to Felix Baumgarnter’s contribution to the future of space travel, SE Corp., an analysis consulting firm, has enabled the use of the Kennedy Space Station for at least another 50 years. Using SolidWorks Flow Simulation, SE Corp. analyzed the impact of an inadvertent rocket fuel ignition
inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

To perform advanced simulations in CAD and computational fluid dynamics, SE Corp. enlisted the help of SolidWorks Simulation Premium and SolidWorks Flow Simulation. The software allowed the firm to analyze the facility safety and emergency escape procedures of the VAB at the Kennedy Space Center to measure the effects of a rocket fuel ignition accident to test the durability of the VAB.

Using SolidWorks solutions, SE Corp. created a CFD model to simulate the behavior of exhaust gases and ground-level thermal radiation. The turnaround was around 24 hours even though there were roughly 200,000 elements. Flow Simulation allowed the firm to produce grid-independent solutions and report multiple flow gradients in a single day.

SE Corp. earned the NASA Space Awareness Team Award as a result of their throrough analysis in SolidWorks. To learn more about SE Corp.’s contribution to Kennedy Space Center research, read their case study.