Case Study: A+ Corporation 

Physical testing is a vital part of product development.   Theory only goes so far.  Physical testing is all about performance, and it’s where you find out if your engineering predictions are validated and whether something unanticipated is an issue.

Physical testing is also expensive, time-intensive, and often is limited in what can be measured.   These limitations are the conditions being tested, the loads being tested, and the instrumentation available to gather data.  In many cases, such as the NASA Apollo Program, full physical testing in actual conditions is not possible.

A+ Corporation of Gonzales, La. are industry leaders in in-flow sampling measurements for product quality.  Their GENIE probes have proven themselves with decades of service.  They took a page out of the Apollo program by having 3rd party certified laboratory testing of several of their probes under a variety of conditions using air, then contracting KES to provide 3rd party independent engineering study of the test to provide greater insight into the flow dynamics and physical response of their product using established Verification & Validation (V&V) techniques.

KES used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to model the flow.  They were able to use CFD to replicate the physical test results with vortex development.  From there, they applied the flow-induced loads to examine the stresses created in the structure using Finite Element Analysis (FEA), something the laboratory tests could not provide.  Now KES has validated numerical models, creating a “virtual laboratory” for A+ Corporation to analyze their probes for a wide variety of parameters.   KES can predict flow-induced forces and their effects on their products using actual pipeline products, dimensions, and conditions.  This level of prediction significantly increases their reliability and is a service no one else in their market is offering.  KES is proud to support Louisiana businesses like A+ Corporation.

Steven Calverley, A+ Corporation’s lead engineer, receives the final report validating the laboratory testing. KES president Krista Kemper holds one of the GENIE sampling probes.