Automated Design Optimization for Hypersonic Plasma-Aerodynamics

The research goal of this project is to develop adjoint based methods for design optimization of hypersonic aerospace vehicles and system components. Specifically, we will build on our expertise in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Design optimization to extend existing numerical algorithms for non-equilibrium hypersonic flows. The long term goal is the development and use of these computational capabilities to characterize the performance of hypersonic flight vehicles systems over the flight envelope, and to optimize MHD flow control in hypersonic vehicles. Combined with the use of high performance computing algorithms and a fully automated software architecture we hope to provide a robust and accurate computational tool for designers that can be eventually imbedded in the design process of future hyersonic vehicles.