A Coupled Computational Aeroelasticity and Thermal Response Analysis Tool

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project develops a coupled computational aeroelasticity and thermal response analysis tool that can be used to analyze and design ballistic reentry vehicles and Trajectory Shaping Vehicles (TSV). In Phase I, a well validated thermal response analysis module will be integrated into a well validated computational aeroelasticity code. In Phase II, a gas-kinetic CFD algorithm will further be implemented in this coupled computational aerothermoelasticity tool. As a result, the developed tool is not only more accurate than the conventional macroscopic computational aeroelasticity approach in the continuum regime but also is easily extendable to hypersonic flows beyond the continuum regime.