Seminars

A major challenge in the design and development of new or even derived aerospace vehicles and systems is the enormous size of their combined design space and operational parameter space. This is further compounded by the complexity of governing physics frequently found in the critical "edge of the envelope" regions of these spaces where many of the novelty payoffs frequently lie. The dimensional size of these design + operational spaces makes it infeasible to computationally characterize them solely by high-fidelity 3D RANS and 3D FEA methods. An effective solution is to perform the initial design evaluations using appropriate low-order models constructed to capture the key physical effects and interactions present. Their low cost allows a relatively extensive exploration and characterization of a large design space, and thus enables evolution of the design close to its best-possible configuration as set by physical limits, as well as economic and regulatory considerations. High-fidelity methods can then be most effectively employed to perform the final design refinement. Examples of this approach will be drawn from a few selected research works, and from previous and current development projects of extreme-performance aircraft.