Innovation For Any Industry

KES has proven itself time and again in developing key innovations in a wide range of fields.  Our success is based on our comprehensive approach, expert use in tools, and creativity in developing innovation based our knowledge in multiple industries and disciplines.

Stress & strain is stress & strain.  Heat transfer is heat transfer.  Fluid flow is the same regardless of whether it’s in a chemical pipe, blood vessel, or aviation fuel line.   The physics do not change because of the industry used.   Our proven methodology is based on detailed problem identification,  goal-oriented solution development, and creativity to overcome traditional obstacles.   Our Clients are the experts in their fields and are the product development managers.  We provide our expertise to develop the solutions for their challenges regardless of the industry, applicable codes, or location.

Often our work remains proprietary and confidential.  We ensure our Client’s interests are safeguarded.  Our expertise is in providing solutions, therefore maintaining confidentiality is key to maintaining those relationships.  Other times we help our Client secure Intellectual Property such as patents and trademarks.   We also help with procedures, policies, and communications since how equipment is used can be as much of an challenge as the design and fabrication.

We are proud to be veterans and hiring veterans and Louisiana citizens.  The skills, adaptivity, and focus on getting the mission done are our keys to innovation.

New Applications for Acrylics

Krista Kemper, our owner, and Bart Kemper, our principal engineer, are both on the ASME Codes and Standards Committee for Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy.  One of the challenges in the field is the use of acrylics for windows.  Acrylics have been proven to be the most reliable method for diving bells, submersibles, medical chambers, and other PVHO applications.  However, they are a nonlinear viscioelastic material.  The current rules use a very empirical method for window design.

KES has considerable experience with pressure vessels, plastics, medical applications, and advanced computational modeling.  In working in multiple aspects of the industry, there was a need to expand the applications of acrylics as a pressure vessel material. However, this had to be done safely and reliably.

KES researched existing work as well as partnered with industry leaders.  Based on this, rules for how to apply nonlinear and linear Finite Element Analysis to acrylic windows and proposed rules for eliminating the cyclic limits were proposed and accepted as a peer reviewed paper.  This could have significant savings on those designs in which the windows have large design margins.  Current rules have a hard limit on the number of cycles.

This work was presented at Underwater Intervention 2013 and the 2013 Joint ASME/USCG Marine Technologies Conference where it was published as a peer review paper.  Subsequent to this first ASME paper, KES published a number of conference papers under the auspices of the Marine Technology Society and their Manned Underwater Vehicle (MUV) group meeting at the annual Underwater Intervention international exhibition, 2016-2020.

These series of innovative explorations of plastic engineering for marine applications has resulted in a peer-reviewed journal article authored by two KES engineers establishing a framework for “design by analysis” effort.  Originally submitted in 2018, it examines formally incorporating stochastic Finite Element Analysis as well as Verification and Validation (V&V) techniques.   In 2019 Bart Kemper was appointed to chair an ASME task force to develop a design by analysis method to complement the current ASME PVHO design methodology.  This will likely to have implications beyond the PVHO industry and extend into plastic engineering practice.

Blast and Force Protection

“Civil engineers build targets, mechanical engineers take them down.”

This old adage still holds true.  However, having a detailed understanding of the mechanical side allows for better development of force protection methods.

Bart published a peer-reviewed paper about Lessons Learned in Iraq and was presented at the ASME International Congress in Seattle, Wa. in 2007. This addressed how cultural issues, traditional engineering, and military issues are intertwined in austere or expeditionary environments.  Even if an engineer is not in the military, often military-related issues come up in terms of site security, anti-terrorism threats, and in working with foreign governments.

One of the lessons learned while working overseas in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is the variability of materials.  Many of the Western designs assume quality that is not reasonable or cost effective in austere environments.   His work has been cited in various training programs.

Bart developed a blast wall that is highly effective for close-in explosions, such as due to vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs).  Where conventional methods such as a single concrete wall simply increases casualty rates, this design can confine the damage to a planned area.  It has since been published and advocated by a variety of agencies, including USACE Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC).  KES has proven history in civil, industrial, and governmental applications for blast, ballistics, fire, chemical release, and protective structures.  We have also presented on blast modeling for managing facility security at the 2019 International Society of Explosives Engineers, which include an analysis of the largest IED on record.