MSC Marc Analysis is used to evaluate the structural response of the design. This analysis (FEA) process is performed by NovaComp Engineering under an Eastwood order for professional services. The design and analysis processes are at once highly interactive and firewall-separated such that the analysis is a rigorous, independently developed, objective outcome of the agreed-to design iteration.



The other essential element in the development process is rapid prototyping. EEC manufactures components at its own facility in Livermore CA in support of physical testing and in support of fit-and-function analysis. Selection of the spar form as the primary load bearing structural element in the Sun-Link™ architecture is a direct outcome of product evaluation through rapid prototyping. Rapid prototyping also supports FEA by enabling mechanical testing of sub-assemblies for ensemble properties. Results of such tests are evaluated alongside of FEA prediction to improve FEA model cycle time efficiency.



FEA and rapid prototyping are design development tools. Even though advanced solid modeling is a powerful tool in its own right, digital visualization cannot convey design properties such as ease of handling and component stiffness. On the analysis side, FE has spun off the niche application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which can be used