Integrated Variable-Fidelity Tool Set for Modeling and Simulation of Aeroservothermoelasticity-Propulsion (ASTE-P) Effects for Aerospace Vehicles Ranging From Subsonic to Hypersonic Flight

The proposed research program aims at developing a variable-fidelity software tool set for aeroservothermoelastic-propulsive (ASTE-P) modeling that can be routinely applied to the design of aerospace vehicles. The toolset can be applied to conventional vehicle types as well as hypersonic vehicles. The major issues involved in ASTE-P modeling and simulation will be significantly and extensively investigated in this project, which include full coupling between fluid/structure/control dynamics, the aeroservothermoelastic-propulsive instability, the viscous/turbulent effects, shock and shock-boundary layer interaction, as well as the large unsteady and highly nonlinear aerothermal dynamic loading on structure of vehicles. The interface of the structure/control surface dynamic vibration modes with flows will be modeled using particle-based material point method (MPM) in an integrated dynamic fluid-structure interaction environment. The MPM is essentially a particle-based method which avoids dealing with the time-varying mesh distortions and boundary variations due to structure/control surface deformations and/or motions (i.e. wing flutters, FCS/structural mode interaction, PSD turbulence response), thus being significantly more robust and computationally efficient than the traditional finite element methods that must utilize moving-boundary and mesh-regeneration. The results achieved in Phase I have demonstrated the initial capability; the end software in Phase II will be fully capable of ASTE-P analysis and evaluation for aerospace vehicles.