Academic News

Aircraft Design via High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Optimization

Published:2015-06-08 

Theme: Aircraft Design via High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Optimization

Speaker: Associate Prof. Joaquim R. R. A. Martins,University of Michigan

Time: July 8, 2014, Tuesday, 10:00-11:30

Venue: Lecture Hall, Aerospace Building

       

Abstract:

Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) has found many applications in engineering and is now positioned to make major contributions in the design of the next generation of aircraft. In particular, the simultaneous optimization of the outer mold line of a wing and its structural sizing yields an optimal aeroelastic tailoring for a given wing. However, due to the computational cost of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM), as well as the number of cases that need to be considered, high-fidelity MDO of aircraft configurations remains a challenge. A framework for high-fidelity aerostructural optimization will be presented along with the theory developed to address the inherent challenges. The framework combines a three-dimensional CFD solver, a finite-element solver capable of modeling composite layups, a geometry modeler, and a gradient-based optimizer to compute the flying shape of a wing and to optimize aircraft configurations with respect to aerodynamic shape and internal structural sizes. The theoretical developments to be presented include coupled sensitivity analysis methods, and an automatic differentiation adjoint approach. The algorithms resulting from these developments are all implemented to take advantage of massively parallel computers. Applications to the optimization of aircraft configurations will demonstrate the effectiveness of these approaches. The results will include the study of aircraft weight versus fuel burn Pareto fronts for both metallic and composite wings. The presentation will end with a speculation on future research directions in this area.

 

 

Bio:

Joaquim R. R. A. Martins is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, where he heads the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Laboratory (MDOlab) in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. His research involves the development and application of MDO methodologies to the design of aircraft configurations, with a focus on high-fidelity simulations that take advantage of high-performance parallel computing. Before joining the University of Michigan faculty in September 2009, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, where from 2002 he held a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Multidisciplinary Optimization. Prof. Martins received his undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College, London, with a British Aerospace Award. He obtained both his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, where he was awarded the Ballhaus prize for best thesis in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was a keynote speaker at the International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics in 2007 and the Aircraft Structural Design Conference in 2010. He has received the Best Paper Award in the AIAA Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference three times (2002, 2006, and 2012). He is a member of the AIAA MDO Technical Committee and was the technical co-chair for the 2008 AIAA Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference. He is also an Associate Editor for Optimization and Engineering, AIAA Journal, and Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. For more information, please visit: http://mdolab.engin.umich.edu

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