Corvid offers engineering solutions utilizing physics for various industries. Their computational physics software, analysis tools, massively parallel supercomputer system, and prototyping capabilities provide end-to-end solutions.
During the state economic incentive evaluation process, Corvid Technologies LLC was designated “Project Control” and will establish its main campus and headquarters in Iredell County. According to Governor Roy Cooper today, this decision will create 367 jobs.
Computational Fluid Dynamics
CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) is a computer-aided engineering method that simulates the movement of liquids and gases using mathematical models and supercomputers. Engineers use CFD to solve complex technical and physical problems without physically testing prototypes – saving time and money!
Fluid mechanics is an area of study that utilizes fluid mechanics equations to predict how systems will behave, such as automobiles and aircraft, food processing facilities, manufacturing plants, and weather forecasting. Fluid dynamics is used in designing and analyzing many systems, from cars and planes to food processing lines, manufacturing lines, and weather science.
CFD simulation requires subdividing an area into discrete cells known as a mesh, the size and resolution of which determine the model’s accuracy; finer meshes provide more detailed results but require more computing resources. Boundary conditions must first be defined, detailing how fluid behaves at its edges before solving Navier-Stokes equations of fluid motion iteratively for every cell or element within the mesh until reaching a stable solution, known as convergence.
CFD analysis yields a virtual prototype that allows designers to assess and modify CAD designs before building them physically, saving time and money through reduced trial-and-error and improving results. CFD can also be used to examine existing products or structures to identify areas for improvement as well as maximize limited resources such as energy, materials, space, or time, speeding time-to-market for new designs while helping understand existing products’ function and the influence of environmental factors such as temperature change, wind or rain.
Structural Mechanics
Structural mechanics focuses on analyzing mechanical loads and structural systems, both static and dynamic. Such studies may include beam bending, column buckling, torsion of shaft, and bridge deflection.
Static failure is a critical concern in many engineering applications, and bridge design is no exception. When applying safety factors to account for variances in material data, manufacturing tolerances, and analysis assumptions. If these limits are exceeded during construction, the structure is considered to have failed, and we hope that the SMM group can help increase understanding of the physical causes behind failures like these and develop methodologies for their prediction and mitigation.
SMM is integral in developing damage-tolerant materials and structures for aerostructures to ensure safe flight even after damage events. Furthermore, this work aims at developing methods to predict and mitigate thermal-structure interactions on material performance – an invaluable service when operating aircraft across varied climates, from cold environments to hot temperatures.
SMM Group researchers are exploring damage accumulation and stress fatigue in materials used in construction, such as steel and aluminum. Their investigation involves several approaches, from studying physical mechanisms at play to computational modeling and experimental testing, with the ultimate aim being developing methodologies for predicting material behavior under loading over time and then using this knowledge in design/production processes for safer and longer-lasting products. Their efforts will benefit the entire industry as this work helps ensure manufacturers can provide consumers with safer and more durable products.
Shock Physics
Whether it’s the impact of a vehicle hitting a wall, a bullet striking armor, or the explosion of an explosive, materials are subject to shocks that reveal information about the stress placed upon them. When explosives explode, this information is transmitted via concussive waves, which can be felt miles after their detonation. Shock waves are fascinating phenomena found everywhere around us: lightning strikes, sonic booms, earthquakes, lunar and planet craters, as well as nuclear bomb tests and mining explosions, among others. Shock waves also play a fundamental part in our world– physics that cannot be ignored when considering our understanding of world history!
When disturbances move faster than local gas dynamics can respond, matter near the disorder can experience transient changes to its properties – usually marked by compression followed by decay – known as shock waves. Shock waves typically involve thin regions with substantial gradients in pressure, temperature, velocity, or all three.
These shocks dissipate energy and increase entropy, rendering them irreversible processes. Furthermore, shocks compress flow, raising static pressure, density, and temperature while decreasing fluid velocity – classic thermodynamic problems solved using Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions.
Shock physics is an essential field of study to understand better how materials behave under extreme conditions encountered by vehicles, rockets, and spacecraft. At UB, researchers are exploring methods to absorb shocks using conical chains of spheres with increasingly smaller apexes to absorb shockwaves. Furthermore, they have developed PC-based simulation algorithms for load damage analysis and material data libraries.
Outside of defense-related applications, knowledge gained in this branch of physics can assist with designing building and bridge materials and may provide critical medical insights. For example, the University of Buffalo scientists have created an innovative method to predict the damage caused by explosions in cargo holds of wide-body aircraft.
Styling & Surfacing
Class-A surfacing involves creating and optimizing surfaces of constant curvature for all customer-visible parts on a vehicle’s interior and exterior while making sure these are manufacturable. Doing this requires extensive knowledge of modern manufacturing processes, technical regulations, and aesthetic criteria relating to the quality of surfaces in future vehicles.
Surface Styling offers an expansive selection of solid surfaces, flooring, laminates, decorative panels, and wall paneling from leading manufacturers like Formica, Polyrey, and Avonite Hanex Kronoswiss Tuscan. Their website allows specifiers to search by genre, color certification, and size and order free samples, which will be shipped within 24 hours!
High-Performance Computing
High-Performance Computing (HPC) combines computer architecture, algorithms, system software, programs, and electronics to process large volumes of data rapidly. HPC can be used for advanced computational tasks that would otherwise consume too many resources from a standard desktop, laptop, or server processor.
HPC is an indispensable tool for scientific discovery, allowing researchers to conduct complex models across numerous fields, such as climate models, molecular dynamics, and engineering. Furthermore, business users utilize HPC for applications like 3D imaging, transaction processing, and data warehouses.
Historically, HPC was only accessible to state agencies, universities, and top-tier corporations with enough money to install on-site supercomputers. Thanks to cloud computing, however, this type of computing power can now be made more readily accessible for enterprises of all sizes that need to solve compute-heavy computational issues within reasonable time and cost constraints.
HPC can significantly accelerate new products’ design and production times by using simulations to predict their performance, optimize processes for efficiency and identify next-generation materials that reduce production costs. Furthermore, aerospace industries use HPC simulations for testing airplanes and crew safety.
HPC is helping financial firms accelerate their digital transformation by offering real-time predictive analytics, using results for informed risk mitigation decisions, investment strategies, and supply chain logistics optimization. Furthermore, predictive models provide real-time predictive maintenance updates, which allow organizations to reduce downtime through improved supply chain logistics management and mobilize predictive maintenance strategies – all thanks to HPC computing power that enables enterprises to make smarter decisions more quickly – just one example of the ways it’s revolutionizing the finance industry!
