New Approaches to High Speed Civil Transport Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization

New approaches to multidisciplinary design optimization have been developed and demonstrated in a NASA Langley funded project to look at a particularly challenging aeronautics problem – High Speed Civil Transport Aeroelastic Wing Design. In particular, the problem is how to incorporate key multidisciplinary information and knowledge as it becomes available. This problem results from such information not being available early in the design process due to dependence on higher fidelity models, databases and analysis tools. A Robust Design Synthesis methodology involving the application of response surface equations was developed and successfully applied in the solution of this problem. The approach also involved the incorporation of stochastic models for the design parameters and the development of tools for their propagation through the approximations generated for the design space under consideration. The research addresses several key wing design domains including aerodynamics, structural analysis and controls as necessary to address the wing aeroelasticity and transonic flutter problems, including the potential application to active flexible wing technologies.