1587. CADAM Mass Properties Overview

Paper

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the development of the mass properties calculation capabilities for CADAM. CADAM is an engineering drawing computer program developed originally at Lockheed California Company in Burbank and now controlled by CADAM Inc. The mass property analysis subroutines were developed at LMSC in Sunnyvale, California.
The overall rationale for developing this software is discussed along with the specific development objectives. The actual analysis method used to generate mass properties data was developed by G.J. Strom of LMSC and presented at the 41st Annual SAWE Conference. A generalized discussion of this method is presented with emphasis on showing its compatibility with the CADAM database. A more detailed discussion of the mathematical development of this method can be found in Mr. Strom’s SAWE paper (No. 1474).
Although this analysis capability has been in existence at LMSC for Only two years, its observed effectiveness in the Missile Systems Division is discussed and compared with its projected effectiveness at the beginning of the software development in 1979. These comparisons show that CADAM analysis is saving calculation time in support of the current Trident 11 missile was predicted in 1979 and hence the cost savings are also less than predicted. CADAM analysis has exceeded expectations in other areas of mass properties work. Benefits derived from CADAM in these areas are discussed. Finally a brief status is given of the ongoing software modification by CADAM Inc.