Aerodynamic Modeling with Heterogeneous Data Assimilation and Uncertainty Quantification

Clear Science Corp. proposes to develop an aerodynamic modeling tool that assimilates data from different sources and facilitates uncertainty quantification. The technical merit and feasibility of the technology will be demonstrated in Phase I through a series of verification and validation tests that utilize both computational and wind tunnel data in constructing aerodynamic models for the Orion launch abort system (LAS). Aerodynamic models provide inputs to the guidance, navigation, and control system. The proposed software will enable performance predictions over a wide range of operational conditions through the fusion of data from multiple sources including high-dimensional computational simulations, wind tunnel tests, and flight tests. The software will also facilitate uncertainty analyses to determine the propagation of variability in inputs into output variability and sensitivity analyses to identify critical design and modeling parameters and operational variables. Complex systems like the LAS are designed with a mixture of heterogeneous data, and uncertainties in the data can be a critical factor in evaluating designs. The objective is to develop assimilation methods that reduce the number of expensive wind tunnel tests and CFD simulations required during system design while maintaining and improving the quality of aerodynamic models and systematically assessing uncertainties.

The proposed project will focus on aerodynamic models and launch-abort system design, but the software is applicable in numerous products both inside and outside the aerospace market. An inclusive framework will be developed to accommodate multiple disciplines in the future including aeroservoelastic, aerothermodynamic, and structural analyses. Potential applications extend to almost every industry involved in designing products that require a combination of computational analysis and experimental testing. The list includes automobiles, air and space vehicles, electronic equipment and computer hardware, manufacturing equipment, new "green" energy production platforms and nuclear power plant equipment, nanotechnology, and medical devices with a commensurately large potential market for commercialization of the software. Commercial and military applications also include entry/re-entry platforms for launching satellites, and space planes currently under development for tourism in space.

The proposed software is enabling technology for the design of vehicles that fly safely through any atmosphere at any speed, a stated goal of NASA's Aeronautic Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). The tool fits into ARMD's four-level approach to technology development: solving aeronautic challenges for a wide range of aerospace vehicles with modeling methods that integrate all phases of the design process: simulation, ground testing, and flight testing. The design process for aircraft and launch vehicles involves almost every engineering discipline and relies on a mixture of laboratory testing, computational modeling, and final performance evaluations. Integrating these types of analysis and testing will draw from the strength and offset the weakness of each. The software framework will be designed to ultimately interface with models and test data from all of the Fundamental Aeronautics subtopics in the SBIR solicitation, providing the conduit for synergistic development of new and fundamental technologies.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — 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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