Aerothermoelastic Simulation

Testing and clearing hypersonic systems is a challenging task. When anything unexpected occurs, the time to react is so short that the tested article must be destroyed. Because ground-based experimental facilities such as shock tunnels and arc-jets are typically unable to reproduce the flight conditions experienced by these systems, a fast multidisciplinary computational technology is required for assisting in their design, determining their stability and structural integrity throughout their flight phases and later assisting in their flight testing. This numerical simulation technology must account for the aerodynamics of the vehicle’s shape and turbulence in its boundary layer, conduction in its structure, and radiation on its surface. It must also be capable of representing, when appropriate, ablative materials. Most importantly, it must account for the coupling between all of these physics fields. The main goal of this Phase II SBIR project is to develop such a computational technology by transforming the AERO Suite of Codes deployed at the Edwards Air Force Base into a state-of-the-art linear aerothermoelastic reduced-order modeling tool capable of assisting in the design and flight testing of hypersonic systems of relevance to the Air Force mission. BENEFIT: The success of this Phase II SBIR project will lead to a numerical simulation tool that is capable of addressing today''s pressing needs for reliable, accurate, and yet practical aerothermoelastic predictions. These predictions will assist not only the design and test of hypersonic systems, but also many mass-marketed "hot" mechanical engineering systems such as gas turbines and vehicle tires. Indeed, there is a strong interest in the simulation-based design of the gas flow in new generation turbine engines to mitigate excessive heat transfer from a turbulent flow to the airfoil blades, an effect that determines lifetime. Tire manufacturers are also strongly interested in the computational technology to be developed in this SBIR for the multidisciplinary thermal analysis of rolling aircraft and car tires. There is also a real need for such a technology for predicting coating flows in deformable equipment and heat transfer and thermal stresses in manifolds, brakes, fuel cells, and rotating machinery.