Aerothermoelastic Simulation

Hypersonic flight introduces extreme heat loads into the skin of a vehicle, particularly at its leading edges. Determining these loads is a challenging task that requires accounting for the aerothermal features of both the flow and thermal state of the surface of the structure. Hence, the accurate aerothermal analysis of hot vehicles requires a tight coupling between appropriate fluid, thermal, and structural models. Incomplete forms of this integration have been attempted in the past using simple algorithms that were either computationally inefficient or numerically unstable. The main objectives of this proposal are: (a) to demonstrate a higher-fidelity, multidisciplinary computational technology for the analysis of hot vehicles that is numerically stable, provably accurate and compatible with the AERO code deployed at the Edwards AFB, and (b) equip this simulation technology with a reliable Reduced-Order Modeling (ROM) capability to enable the prediction in near real-time of heat loads and their effects on structural integrity and aeroelastic stability. The proposed high-fidelity approach centers on the four-field formulation of aerothermoelastic problems and provably accurate and computationally efficient conjugate heat transfer algorithms for deformable and vibrating structures. The proposed ROM technology is based on the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method.