DARWIN is a tool for performing non-destructive analyses of crack formation and growth within turbine rotor disks (usually within aircraft turbines). Sponsored by the FAA and developed with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in collaboration with four major gas turbine engine manufacturers. It supports a variety of basic configuration combinations, allowing the user to specify:
- Probabalistic or deterministic analysis
- General or FAA-certification mode
- 1, 2, or 3 dimensional finite element models
- Inherent or surface damage
- Automatic or manual crack growth zone specification
DARWIN predicts the fracture risk of components with undetected material anomalies or surface damage, and quantifies the influence of in-service inspection on risk reduction. DARWIN won an R&D 100 award in 2000 and is in wide use and further development to the present.