A survey was conducted in the middle of the 1977-78 school year. Each faculty member of the civil engineering, engineering mechanics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering departments was asked to give information on the present (Level 15.5) and future projected (Level 17) usage of NASTRAN programs. Results from the survey study are summarized

Mei, C.

English

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use OF NASTMN IN A UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT 
Chuh PIei 
U n i v e r s i t y  of M i s s o u r i  - R o l l a  
The heavy use  o f  NASTMN h e r e  and abroad  h a s  demons t ra ted  i t s  vaiiic as a 
r e s o u r c e  f o r  s L r u c t u r a 1  and h e a t  t r a n s f e r  a n a l y s e s .  T h i s  paper  b r i n g s  a n o t h e r  
v iew of NASTRAN a s  a n  e d u c z t i o n a l  and r e s e a r c h  t o o l  i n  a u n i v e r s i t y .  A s u r v e y  
was conducted i n  the middle  u f  t h e  1977-78 s c h o o l  y e a r .  Eacli f a c u l t y  member of 
t h e  c i v i l .  e n g i n e e r i n g ,  e n g i n e e r i n g  mechanics, and mechan ica l  and a e r o s p a c e  
e n g i n e e r i n g  depar tments  was asked t o  g i v s  i n f o r m a t i o n  on t h e  p r e s n n t  (Leve l  15.5) 
and f u t u r e  p r u j e c t e d  (Level 1 7 )  usage of N A S T U  program. R e s u l t s  from t h e  
s u r v e y  s t u d y  a r e  summarized i n  t h i s  paper .  
WIDE ACCEPTANCE PROM INDUSTRIES 
The NASTRAN systems management o f f i c e  surveyed t h e  u se r  group i n  May 1 9 7 4 .  
At that time 2300 u s e r s  and 5200 CPU hours  p e r  month computer t i m e  on v a r i o u s  
NASTRAI4 a c t i v i t i e s  were r e p o r t e d  ( r e f .  1) .  Tlzese numbers are probab ly  conser-  
v a t i v e ,  s i n c e  n o t  a l l  u s e r s  responded and not a l l  u s e r s  got t h e  q u e s t i o n n a i r e .  
B e s i d e s ,  many s m a l l  e n g i n e e r i n g  companies run t h e i r  NASTRAN j o b s  through the 
CDC/CYBElWET o r  Sper ry  UNIVAC sys tems.  They f i n d  tha t  i t  i s  more ~ c o n o m i c a l  
and a l s o  more conven ien t .  Wide accep tance  of t h e  program from the  i n d u s t r y  llas 
been  observed,  and the u s e r  corninunity i s  s t e a d i l y  growing.  
IN AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE 
One i n t e r e s t i n g  result from t h e  1974 survey w a s  the l a r g e  number of non- 
a e r o s p a c e  u s e r s .  They accoun t  f o r  more than 75 p e r c e n t  of  t h e  t o t a l  compute;: 
u s e .  Th i s  s p e c i f i c  non-aerospace group c o n s i s t s  of computer and e n g i n e e r i n g  
c o n s u l t i n g  companies, automobi le  and manufac tu r ing  i n d u s t r i e s ,  u n i v e r s i t i e s ,  
etc. However, v e r y  l i t t l e  i n f o r m a t i o n  on NASTRAN u s e  Kas r epo r t ed  from academic 
i n s t i t u t i o n s .  Willrinson d i s c u s s e d  his e x p e r i e n c e s  w i t h  i n c o r p o r a t i o n  h'AST1W a s  
a t e a c h i n g  t o o l  i n  undergradua te  c o u r s e s  a t  L o u i s i a n a  Tech U n i v e r s i t y  ( ref .  2 ) .  
I-Za found t h a t  most  s t u d e n t s  tend t o  be  overwhelmed by t h e  magni tude and b u l k  of 
t h ~  NASTRAN u s e r ' s  manual. lle proposed that a "l.litii-Manual" b e  made avai1abl.e 
which d e s c r i b e s  t h e  e s s e n t i a l  s t e p s  f o r  s e t t i n g  r ~ p  a NASTRAN job .  This has been 
accornpli.shed by t h e  r e l e a s e  of  a "Condensed Form of NASTRAN" ( r e f .  3 ) .  X t  i s  
s p e c i f i c a l l y  des igned  f o r  u n i v e r s i t y  i n s t r u c t i o n s  and s h o r t  c o u r s e s .  A more 
g e n e r a l  view of NASTIM i n  several. of the u n i v e r s i t y ' s  e d u c a t i o n a l  and r e s e s r c h  
programs a t  Rolla campus i s  p r e s e n t e d  i n  t h i s  p a p e r .  
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19780024528 2020-03-22T01:55:38+00:00Z
THE SURVEY 
A survey was conductad i n  scvcral depar tments  of the s c h o o l  of e n g i n e e r i n g  
a t  t h e  end of F a l l  se tnes ter  1977. A q u e s t i o i l n a i r e  was s e n t  t o  each f a c u l t y  
member of  t h e  c i v i l  e n g i n e e r i n g ,  ~ n g i n e e r i n g  mechanics ,  and mechan ica l  and 
ne rospsce  e n g i n e e r i n g  depar tments .  The purpose was t o  g a t h e r  i n f o r m a t i o n  on tlie 
usage o f  NASTRAN programs (Level 15.5) in t h e  s c h o o l  of  e n g i n e e r i n g  s o  that a 
c o n c l u s i o n  cou ld  b e  reached on wheeher o r  noL t o  reronlmend t o  t h e  o f f i c e  G£ 
computing a c t i v i t i e s  t h e  l e a s i n g  of Level. 1 7  NASTRAN. Responses were o b  t a i n c d  
from 2 7  f a c u l t y  members. The q u e s t i o n s  being asked were:  
1)  Courses p r e s e n t l y  u s i n g  N A S T W .  
2)  Number of g r a d u a t e  s t u d e n t s  u s i n g  the program i n  their  theses. 
3)  Kesearch p r o j e c t s  u s i c g  N A S T W .  
4 )  W i l l  uuc Level 1 7  i n  c o u r s e s  and /o r  r e s e a r c h  work. 
T h e  r e s u l t s  a r e  p r e s e n t e d  i n  t h e  fo l lowing  s e c t i o n .  
FINDINGS 
W A S T W  prograrn h a s  been i n c o r  por a tred i n  twel.ve undergradua te  and g r a d u a t e  
c o u r s e s  a s  a supplemental ,  t each ing  tool. Those c o u r s e s  are: 
AE 253 Aerospace S t r u c t u r e s  
AE 351 I n t e r m e d i a t e  Aerospace  S t r u c t u r e s  
CE 425 F i n i t e  Element A p p l i c a t i o n  i n  Structural Design 
CE 428 Matrix blethods of S t r u c ~ u r a l  A n a l y s i s  
EMe 300 V i b r e t i o n  Exper iments  
EMe 361 Theory of V i b z a t i o n s  
EMe 401 Advanced Top ics  i n  Engineer ing Mechanics 
EMe 405 Nuincrical Plethods of Mechanics 
EMc 431 Theory of P l a t e s  
ble 432 Theory of S h e l l s  
PIP..AE 300 S p e c i a l  Problems 
MeAE 407 Advanced ?lechar.ical V i b r a t i o n s  
C ~ u r s e  numbers 399 and below are baslcal1.y d e s i g n a t e d  f o r  u n d e r g r a d u a t e s ,  
and,  k00 and sbove f o r  g r a d u a t e  r o u r s e s .  I n s t r u c t o r s  have l e a r n e d  f rom e x p e r i -  
ence  chat s t u d e n t s  w i t h  very little computer ized s t r u c t u r e s  background a r e  able 
ro r e a d i l y  g r a s p  t t ,e  progr,:lmls l o g i c  and begin s o l v i n g  r e a l i s t i c  problems. 
T h i s  i s  due  t o  t h e  fact t h a t  t h e  program is  u s e r  o r i e n t e d  w i t h  e a s y  i n p u t  and 
e x t e n s i v e  r . r r o r  checks .  Pacul.ty members a l s o  i n d i c a t e d  i n t e r e s t  i n  u s i n g  
NI\STIM.N i n  t h i r t e e n  ocher  courses. 
Tila program is  also be ing  used as a - . .a rarch tool f o r  gradua te  s t u d e ~ l t s  on 
t l ~ e i ~ :  t h e s i s  work, and f o r  Eacuh t y  tner~ibers on  v a r i o u s  research projects. 
'1,'hirtecn F1.S. and Ph.D. t l l e ~ e s  have usca Nt\STlZAN f o r  sonre part of t l l e i r  
a n a l y s i s .  The research p rob lems  covrred a broad range of  engineering areas. 
Following ilre examples o f  r e s e a r c h  t o p i c s :  
1ntcr .accive  G r a p h  Lcs 
A n a l y s i s  of Power P l a n t  P i p i n g  Sys t ems  
V i b r a t i o n s  of an A i r p l a n e  IJing 
S t r e s s  Conccnl-rat1011 F a c t o r s  i n  Gears  
P r a c t u r c  Ana lys i s  of Rocks 
Buckl ing of Cold-Rol led  S t e e l  Thin-Wall S t r u c t u r e s  
R e s e a r c l ~  g r a n t s  u t i l i z i n g  NASTLW computat ions ,  t o t a l i n g  i n  e x c e s s  of 
$250 K ,  a r e  c u r r e n t l y  pend ing .  F a r l ! l t y  nrcntbers were unariniously in favor of 
the  a c q u i s i t i o n  of L e v e l  1 7  NASTLW i n s t e a d  !i t h e  "Condensed Vers ion" .  
Consider ing t h e  e x t e n s i v e  u s e  of NASTRAN by boCt~ f a c u l t y  and s t u d e n t s ,  Lhe 
c l ~ o i c c  is  obv ious ,  kUso, t h o s e  s t u d e n t s  w i t h  e x p e r i e n c e  u s i n g  f i n i t e  elerner~t 
metl~ads and NASTIbW are e n j o y i n g  o h i g h  l e v e l  of  i n t e r e s t  froni intczvie\.~ers. 
CONCI,UD LNG REPIARKS 
NASTPIAN program has  a s i g n i f i c a n t  e f f e c r  on several of the university's 
c d t ~ c a t i o n  and r e s e a r c h  programs. They have been d e s c r i b e d  and can  be s u m c d  u p  
w : ~ t h  the  f ol lawing  o b s c r v a r i o n s :  
1 .  Supp1.emc;utal r each ing  t o o l  i n  nlally m e c l ~ a n i c s  and s t r u c t u r a l  
c o u r s e s .  
2 .  Graduate  seuclents u s e  NASTRAN i n  t h e i r  t h e s e s .  
3 .  Use i n  r e s e a r c h  c o n t r a c t s  and p r o j e c t s  i u v o l v i t ~ g  NASTMN 
coiilputa t i o n .  
4 .  F a c u l t y  i.n f a v o r  of Level 1 7  i n s t e a d  of the "Condensed V e r s i o ~ ~ " .  
5 .  Sonte experience wikh NASTRAN i s  a definite p l u s  f o r  students 
seclring employment. 
REFERENCES 
1 .  Weidman, Deenc J. :  NASTRAN Stacus and P l a n s .  NASTMN: Users' Experiences. 
NASA T1l X-3278, 1 9 7 5 ,  p p ,  1-10. 
2 .  Wilkinson, llichael T.: Use of NASTUN as a Teaching A i d .  NASTRAN: Usersr 
Lxper iences .  NASA TN X-2637, 1972, p p .  415-419, 
3 .  liogcrs, James L. Jr. ; Plei, Chuh; otrd Brow1 1J. Keith:  A Condensed Form of 
NASTRIW. NASTRAN: Users' Exl~eriences, NASA CP-2n18, 1977, pp.  299- 
303. 


Use of NASTRAN in a university environment

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