FEM Development, Model Correlation, Stress and Fatigue Analysis
LaFontaine Engineering provides comprehensive finite element modeling (FEM) and structural analysis services to support aerospace structures from preliminary design through verification and certification. Our work emphasizes model fidelity, traceability, and correlation to test data, ensuring analytical results are defensible and actionable.
We develop high-fidelity finite element models tailored to program objectives, ranging from detailed component and subsystem models to large-scale integrated vehicle models. Model development includes element selection, mesh refinement, material definition, boundary-condition implementation, and representation of joints, interfaces, and load paths consistent with physical hardware and test configurations.
Our team performs model correlation using modal, static, and dynamic test data to align analytical predictions with measured behavior. Correlation activities include frequency and mode-shape matching, stiffness and mass adjustments, damping calibration, and validation of interface assumptions. Correlated models are then used as the basis for downstream loads, vibration, and stress analyses.
Using these validated models, LaFontaine Engineering conducts structural and stress analyses under static, dynamic, and combined loading conditions. This includes strength, stiffness, and margin-of-safety assessments for launch, ascent, on-orbit, and test environments, with appropriate treatment of load factors, uncertainties, and material allowables.
We also perform fatigue assessments to evaluate life and durability under cyclic loading, including vibration- and acoustics-driven fatigue. These assessments support design optimization, qualification testing, and reuse or extended-life missions by identifying fatigue-critical locations and quantifying accumulated damage under representative operational environments.
Throughout the analysis lifecycle, we deliver clear, traceable documentation that integrates seamlessly with program reviews, test planning, and verification activities, enabling confident engineering decisions and reduced program risk.