AN OPTIMAL MANEUVERING REENTRY BODY SHAPE DESIGN PACKAGE

THE OVERALL GOAL OF PHASE I AND PHASE II IS TO DEVELOP SOFTWARE THAT WILL FIND THE OPTIMAL SIZE AND SHAPE OF MARB DESIGNS ACCORDING TO USER DEFINED DESIGN CRITERIA. PHASE I WILL SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF MARB SHAPE DESIGN OPTIMIZATION BY COMBINING A GEOMETRIC MODELER, OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE, AND FREE-FORM DEFORMATION WITH AN ANALYSIS MODULE. THE PHASE I ANALYSIS MODULE WILL CONTAIN AERODYNAMICS AND INTERNAL COMPONENT PACKAGING SOFTWARE. THE SOFTWARE WILL HELP THE USER FIND AN OPTIMAL MARB AERODYNAMIC SHAPE (E.G. MAXIMUM LIFE TO DRAG RATIO, OR MINIMUM SURFACE PRESSURE, ETC.) WHILE PACKAGING INTERNAL COMPONENTS INSIDE THE MARB SHAPE AND WHILE SATISFYING DESIGN CONSTRAINTS (E.G. LIMITS OF SURFACE AREA, VOLUME, PRESSURE, DRAG, LENGTH, WIDTH, ETC.). PHASE II WILL ENHANCE THE DESIGN PACKAGE BY INCLUDING OTHER ANALYSIS CODES (I.E. STRUCTURAL, ABLATION, AEROHEAT, RADAR CROSS-SECTION, STABILITY, TRAJECTORY, ETC.) NECESSARY FOR MARB DESIGN SYNTHESIS.