New Contractor Report, “NASGRO® Software for Fitness-For-Service Assessments of Crack-Like Flaws,” Published

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New Contractor Report, “NASGRO® Software for Fitness-For-Service Assessments of Crack-Like Flaws,” Published

May 28, 2026
1-minute read
NASGRO

The NASA Contractor Report: Fitness-For-Service Assessments of Crack-Like Flaws Using NASGRO® (STRIVES Document ID 20250011200) has been approved and published on the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS). Read Report.

Background

NASA has used NASGRO as its primary fatigue and fracture analysis software for space flight hardware for more than 30 years. Since 2014, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) Pressure Systems program has been funding software enhancements to increase the use of NASGRO® to perform Fitness-for-Service (FFS) analyses consistent with industry-accepted practices for ground-based pressure systems as outlined by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Petroleum Institute (API) standards.

In March 2026, the NASA OSMA Pressure Systems program announced an expansion of the NASGRO software, adding key stress intensity factor solutions to NASGRO for common pressure vessel geometries using one- and two-dimensional (univariant and bivariant) Weight Function technology. Read more.

Contractor Report

A newly published contractor report has been approved, providing a framework for using NASGRO fracture mechanics and fatigue crack growth analysis software to perform FFS of crack-like flaws in pressure system components. NASGRO usage has been expanded to provide valuable insight for both flight and ground‑based pressure‑system evaluations.

The report also provides guidance for software users evaluating structural integrity, fracture behavior, fatigue crack growth and remaining life of safety‑critical systems. The report aligns with the procedures outlined in Part 9 of the 2021 edition of Fitness-For-Service, API 579-1/ASME FFS-1, and supports improved consistency and safety across NASA centers and partner organizations.