Aeroelasticity and Aeroservoelastic Control

While advances have been made in the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools to the aeroelastic and aeroservoelastic analysis of flexible flight vehicles, during the design phase, unsteady lifting surface methods based on the doublet-lattice method or the harmonic gradient method are still the dominant tools used. We propose a tool that would (1) be at least as accurate as current lifting surface tools in the flight regimes where they are known to be valid, (2) offer a solution across the Mach regime from subsonic to moderately supersonic (Mach 3 or so), (3) capture the fundamental physics of shocks in the transonic regime, (4) have a comparable computational cost to lifting surface/panel codes, and (5) be integrated with standard aeroservoelastic analysis and design tools.

Potential NASA applications will include the use of the developed technology for design of any new generation aircraft or RLV system including complex and novel configurations such as blended wing-bodies, truss-braced wing configurations, low-boom supersonic configurations, etc.

This technology is expected to have commercial applications to aircraft design of subsonic transports, supersonic vehicles, bombers, fighters, UAV’s, and general aviation airplanes. As such, it is expected to have significant commercial applications in airplane structural design, primarily with DoD, NASA, and the prime contractors.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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