WALLACE
WALLACE is where a manufacturer builds the setup: select components, enter measured dimensions, set machine limits and design goals, compare candidate contours, and package the result.
See WALLACE capabilitiesBarrel design and structural-analysis software
Better tools, less noise.
Alpha Labs builds software for designing and evaluating external barrel contours. WALLACE combines the selected assembly, the shop’s manufacturing limits, and the design goals. NICHOLAS handles the analysis and validation underneath.
See WALLACE capabilities01 / Structural design / Traceable results
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M7 external contour / study 03
These papers informed the analysis methods; their geometry was not copied
Production dimensions and station locations are not shown
02 / Systems
WALLACE is the application. NICHOLAS is the analysis engine.
NICHOLAS
NICHOLAS evaluates the structural behavior behind those choices. It runs the approved models and validation checks, then returns the result with its assumptions, evidence, and limits attached.
See how results are checked
WALLACE by Alpha Labs
Powered by NICHOLAS
What WALLACE does for a barrel shop.
Build the assembled setup, enter the shop’s manufacturing limits, compare external contours, and keep the inputs and evidence attached to the result.
Screen contours against your equipment.
Enter maximum workpiece length, station and shoulder limits, minimum station spacing, maximum taper angle, slenderness limit, and the available work support. WALLACE rejects contours outside those limits before optimization.
- Workpiece length
- Station count
- Shoulder count
- Minimum spacing
- Taper angle
- Length / diameter ratio
- Tailstock / steady rest
Evaluate the complete assembled system.
Build one study from the material, external contour, rear support, handguard, gas system, front stack, passive component mass, and interface state. WALLACE checks the combination and clears choices that no longer fit.
Compare several good contours.
Compare mass, center of gravity, stiffness, dynamic response, thermal and tolerance robustness, and profile complexity. WALLACE can return a ranked list or a set of tradeoff options where no single contour wins every category.
See exactly what information is missing.
WALLACE identifies the measurement that is blocking the setup and accepts a shop measurement for that configuration. The measured value stays separate from the catalog record, and the software does not guess from a product name or photograph.
Create a CAD handoff package.
The current post-processor can produce 1:1 STEP, STL, and dimensioned DXF files, plus a geometry-validation report and file manifest. Exporting an optimized candidate remains locked until that result passes the release checks.
Save the complete study and run it again.
WALLACE records the configuration, components, objectives, evaluator versions, evidence, and results together. Runs can be checkpointed, and the archive package preserves the exact inputs needed to reproduce the study later.
Current development builds support configuration setup, compatibility checks, manufacturability screening, evidence tracking, result packaging, test-run search, and CAD post-processing. Automated production search and one-click shop deployment remain in development.
Development status WALLACE is not a production release. Its output supports engineering decisions; it does not replace independent review, material verification, or physical testing.
Talk to us about a design-partner evaluation03 / Method
Every result shows what was assumed, calculated, and measured.
Inputs, model assumptions, predicted results, and measured evidence are stored separately. That makes it possible to see where a result came from and what still needs physical testing.
“Trust us” isn’t a validation method.
Define the study
Select the assembly, manufacturing limits, design constraints, and the result you want to improve.
Record assumptions
Store boundary conditions, simplifications, uncertainty, and missing measurements with the study.
Run and challenge the models
Evaluate candidates, confirm finalists at higher fidelity, and compare independent checks where they are available.
Report the evidence
Show what is modeled, what is measured, what remains uncertain, and which test would improve the decision next.
Contact Alpha Labs
Building barrels? Let’s talk.
If you manufacture barrels, run a machine shop, or need to turn a stack of measurements into a defensible contour, tell us what is slowing you down. Design-partner conversations, shop workflow problems, and technical questions are all fair game.
iz@alphalabs.tools Start a conversationUseful details: the assembly, the shop limits that matter, the measurements you already have, and the decision you need to make.