Advanced Analytics

We use – and develop – powerful analytical tools that allow our engineers and scientists to investigate and simulate a wide range of physics-based questions.

We can model everything from the behavior of wind around the corners of a skyscraper or the soil under a bridge, to the flow of fluid in a pipe – or a human heart. From the precise, second-by-second reactions of a building during a seismic event to the minute details of a structural failure. From vehicle impacts on a bollard to the danger posed by a concealed shooter.

Our sophisticated – and ever-evolving – capabilities include:

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We develop and apply codes based on first principles to simulate low- and high-velocity fluid flow. We analyze real-world, project-specific conditions to solve problems for a wide variety of client types. Our CFD experts can model explosive detonations in air and water, shock and wind loading on structure, vapor cloud explosions, and hemodynamics.

Computational structural dynamics (CSD). Our experts use powerful software tools to analyze linear and elastic nonlinear structural responses to myriad dynamic, shock and impact loads to assess performance and safety and quantify damage potential.

Media-structure interaction. We evaluate the dynamic interaction between solid structures and surrounding media of all types, such as air and other gases, liquids (water, oil, blood) or soil. We combine our strengths in CFD and CSD with coupling methodologies to solve problems that involve complex time- and spatially varying loads.

Our range of multiphysics applications can provide accurate information on an array of issues, for example: seismic soil-structure interaction; fluid sloshing; fluid flow (through pipes or cardiovascular systems) and extreme events, such as near-contact underwater explosions, near-contact airblast; cased-weapons detonation (including fragment and secondary debris impact); and buried detonations and target assessments.

Building analytics/building physics. Our sustainability experts use advanced tools – many developed in-house to solve problems not adequately addressed by off-the-shelf software – to inform data-driven strategies that help you create high-performance buildings. Our analyses include: comfort studies, daylighting and glare, schematic and advanced energy, parametric, thermal and hygrothermal building science, renewable energy potential, life cycle, embodied carbon and water balancing.

Verification and Validation (V&V)
We also back up our models with real-word test results. The results of our simulations – across many domains – have been extensively validated against laboratory and field tests conducted by government, military and commercial clients. Rigorous V&V not only confirms results but also enables us to increase the accuracy of future modeling efforts.

Communicating Results
Finding the answer isn’t always the end of the story. Communicating results – so clients, attorneys, juries and regulatory bodies can understand them – is critical. That’s why we invest in the invention of a range of tools to make complex data comprehensible. 

• Forensic information modeling (FIM). We developed a better way to manage and analyze huge amounts of data in 3D or 4D models. Linking associated items – photos, analysis results, reports and more – to individual model components, makes them easy to retrieve and organize with keyword queries and statistical analysis. Our FIMs can be used to quickly generate reports and visualizations for clear, effective communication of complex technical issues.
• Custom visualizations. We use commercial and in-house tools to convert the mathematical outcomes of our analyses into graphical simulations and animations. These visualizations make our results easier to understand.
• Virtual reality (VR). Our VR technology brings clients and project partners into our work. We’ve developed tools to convert numerical simulations into VR environments for visualization. How do we use it? In diverse ways across our wide range of solutions and capabilities. Here are just a few examples: We can show our security design and consulting clients before-and-after tours with recommended measures in place. Our life sciences clients and project partners can see how devices or events interact with organs such as the heart or brain. We also use VR to display detailed predictions of complex events, like planned demolitions, and accurate reconstructions of failures.