Virtual Parts Engineering Research Center Initiative

The Virtual Parts Engineering Research Initiative, begun by the Army Research Office in 2001, has developed and matured through Hampton Universitys Virtual Parts Engineering Research Center VPERC and through the collaboration of two sister institutions, University of Utah and Arizona State University. These efforts and these institutions have been dedicated to the development of a virtual platform that provides for expeditious and economical development of spare parts for legacy military weapons systems. Hampton and its academic partners responded to those needs by developing a capability to capture the technical data essential to the manufacture of a given part via NC equipment. In fact, the goals and the successes achieved thus far are to develop parts totally within a virtual environment from the derivation of the technical data file through procurement to manufacture by CAM. The goals have been largely achieved and demonstrated through the development of several proofs-of-concept with varying complexities and developmental environments. This report describes some of the parts developed under the project, past and present, their metrics, manufacturing processes and lessons learned.