[1]. There are many topics touching on structural analysis and loads prediction, which the author has not covered. Materials science is excluded, for this paper considers methods for predicting the macroscopic characteristics of a structure, not analyzing the microscopic properties of the materials from which it is built. So too are computer-aided design, computational fluid dynamics, multidisciplinary optimization, structural test and data analysis techniques, and nondestructive inspection/evaluation, aside from passing reference. Though this paper focuses on NASA activities and contributions, there is no intent to minimize the importance of contributions from the aircraft industry, the technical software industry, universities, and other research organizations.
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[26]. Butler, “Age of NASTRAN,” pp. 3–4.
[27]. McCormick, The NASTRAN Users’ Manual, p. iii; Butler, “Age of NASTRAN,” pp. 4–6; Butler also lists many more members and describes their contributions. At time of writing, document is available in the Tenth NASTRAN Users’ Colloquium, NASA CP-2249, on the NASA Technical Reports Server at http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/198.300.04182_198.300.4182.pdf, accessed Aug. 13, 2009.
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[30]. Butler, “Age of NASTRAN,” p. 7.
[31]. Ibid., pp. 2–3.
[32]. Raney, Weidman, and Adelman, 1971, in First NASTRAN Users’ Colloquium, p. 1.
[33]. Ibid., p. 2.
[34]. Foreword to the First User’s Colloquium, 1971.
[35]. McCormick, The NASTRAN User’s Manual, pp. vii–viii.
[36]. Raney, Weidman, and Adelman, “NASTRAN: Status, Maintence, and Future Development,” in First NASTRAN Users’ Colloquium, NASA Langley Research Center (1971).
[37]. Ibid.
[38]. 5th NASTRAN Users’ Colloquium, 1976, pp. 331–352; 8th, 1979, pp. 11–32; 9th, 1980, pp. 201–223; 11th, 1983, pp. 226–248; and 13th, 1985, pp. 320–340.
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[43]. Additional information is provided in the appendixes.
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[49]. Butler, “Age of NASTRAN,” p. 7.
[50]. Ibid., p. 8.
[51]. “Stresses and Strains,” Spinoff, 1998.
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[64]. Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, e-mail to author, Apr. 10, 2009; NASA, 9th NASTRAN Users’ Colloquium; Two Centers are not discussed in great detail because they undertake little work in computational structural analysis: the Kennedy Space Center and the Stennis Space Center. With responsibility for spacecraft launch operations, vehicle preparation, and integration, Kennedy maintains a minimal structural engineering staff, which is concerned primarily with supporting the Center’s launch equipment. Thus, this Center is not active in structural analysis methods research and development, though it did host the 9th NASTRAN Users’ Colloquium. The primary mission of Stennis is to test a very specific type of hardware, namely the ground-testing of rocket engines. More recently, it has added research in remote sensing. But with the exception of a small number of studies related to the operation of the Center’s own test equipment, the Stennis Space Center’s involvement in research and development in computational methods is minimal. For more information, see John D. Anderson, Jr., “NASA and the Evolution of Computational Fluid Dynamics,” a companion essay in this volume.
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