Aerospace Systems, Flight Vehicle and Aerodynamic Optimization
Investigations into optimum flight vehicles. Includes multidisciplinary optimization, and aerodynamic optimization. Examples include aerodynamic-structural-propulsion-control system integration, minimization of drag for supersonic/hypersonic cruise vehicles, and design of pressure distributions to minimize viscous effects and design of shapes to produce desired pressure distributions using inverse methods. Applications include MDO design of a high-speed civil transport.
Applied Aerodynamics
Applications of computational and experimental techniques to understand the flow physics and improve the aerodynamic performance of flight vehicles. Examples include the examination of the effects of Reynolds number on subsonic/transonic expansion corners for advanced high lift systems and the aerodynamics of aircraft at high angle of attack. Design investigations include forebody shaping for improved high-alpha directional stability.
Configuration Design For Flight Dynamics Considerations
Design integration investigations with control system requirements, including development of design requirements for use in conceptual design, estimation of control power and stability derivatives in conceptual design, and the interaction between design to meet dynamic maneuverability/handling qualitites requirements and design for classical static performance.