Computational aspects of the integrated multi-disciplinary design of a transport wing

Past research at this university has proven the feasibility of the multi-disciplinary design of a complex system involving the complete interaction of aerodynamics and structural mechanics. Critical to this design process, is the ability to accurately and efficiently calculate the sensitivities of the involved quantities (such as drag and dynamic pressure) with respect to the design variables. These calculations had been addressed in past research, but it was felt that insufficient accuracy had been obtained. The focus of this research was to improve the accuracy of these sensitivity calculations with a thorough investigation of the computational aspects of the problem. These studies led to a more complete understanding of the source of the errors that plagued previous results and provided substantially improved sensitivity calculations. Additional research led to an improvement in the aerodynamic-structural interface which aided in the accuracy of the sensitivity computations. Furthermore, this new interface removed discontinuities in the calculation of the drag which the previous model tended to yield. These improvements were made possible with the application of shape functions in surface deflection analysis, instead of the previous ‘zonal’ approach. Other factors which led to accuracy improvements were changes to the aerodynamic model and the paneling scheme. Final studies with the optimization process demonstrated the ability of the improved sensitivities to accurately approximate the design problem and provided useful results. Additional studies on the optimization process itself provided information on move limit restrictions and various constraint problems.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Aerospace Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1990

Author dc:creator

• Unger, Eric Robert

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-04182009-041059

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/42125