A general inverse design procedure for aerodynamic bodies

A general inverse design procedure has been developed to use optimization techniques and generic surface descriptions for the purpose of aerodynamic shape design. A variety of flow regimes are examined from 2-D inviscid, subsonic cases to 3-D turbulent, supersonic problems. Surface descriptions have been generalized through the use of B-splines to model a variety of curves and shapes with a minimum of parameters. The process uses a computational fluid dynamics program, GASP (the General Aerodynamic Simulation Program), and several iterative and optimization techniques to examine bodies of interest. A 2-D inviscid, subsonic airfoil test case demonstrates the ability of the procedure to solve problems governed by elliptic equations. A 3-D, viscous, compressible flow over a forebody/canopy model of a supersonic fighter and its comparison to test data establishes the ability of the method to solve practical problems of interest. Several other test cases are performed, including an axi-symmetric power law body and a 3-D elliptic cone. Unconstrained multi-parameter optimizations have been quite successful in matching target pressure coefficients and reproducing target body shapes.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Aerospace Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1994

Author dc:creator

• Papay, Michael L.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Walters, Robert W.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Grossman, Bernard
• Cliff, Eugene M.
• Schetz, Joseph A.
• Devenport, William J.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-06072006-124206

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/38556