82 research outputs found

    Aerodynamic shape optimization of arbitrary hypersonic vehicles

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    A new method was developed to optimize, in terms of aerodynamic wave drag minimization, arbitrary (nonaxisymmetric) hypersonic vehicles in modified Newtonian flow, while maintaining the initial volume and length of the vehicle. This new method uses either a surface fitted Fourier series to represent the vehicle's geometry or an independent point motion algorithm. In either case, the coefficients of the Fourier series or the spatial locations of the points defining each cross section were varied and a numerical optimization algorithm based on a quasi-Newton gradient search concept was used to determine the new optimal configuration. Results indicate a significant decrease in aerodynamic wave drag for simple and complex geometries at relatively low CPU costs. In the case of a cone, the results agreed well with known analytical optimum ogive shapes. The procedure is capable of accepting more complex flow field analysis codes

    Reliability enhancement of Navier-Stokes codes through convergence enhancement

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    Reduction of total computing time required by an iterative algorithm for solving Navier-Stokes equations is an important aspect of making the existing and future analysis codes more cost effective. Several attempts have been made to accelerate the convergence of an explicit Runge-Kutta time-stepping algorithm. These acceleration methods are based on local time stepping, implicit residual smoothing, enthalpy damping, and multigrid techniques. Also, an extrapolation procedure based on the power method and the Minimal Residual Method (MRM) were applied to the Jameson's multigrid algorithm. The MRM uses same values of optimal weights for the corrections to every equation in a system and has not been shown to accelerate the scheme without multigriding. Our Distributed Minimal Residual (DMR) method based on our General Nonlinear Minimal Residual (GNLMR) method allows each component of the solution vector in a system of equations to have its own convergence speed. The DMR method was found capable of reducing the computation time by 10-75 percent depending on the test case and grid used. Recently, we have developed and tested a new method termed Sensitivity Based DMR or SBMR method that is easier to implement in different codes and is even more robust and computationally efficient than our DMR method

    An inverse analysis for determination of space-dependent heat flux in heat conduction problems in the presence of variable thermal conductivity

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    Translator disclaimer Full Article Figures & data References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions Get accessAbstractThis article presents an inverse problem of determination of a space-dependent heat flux in steady-state heat conduction problems. The thermal conductivity of a heat conducting body depends on the temperature distribution over the body. In this study, the simulated measured temperature distribution on part of the boundary is related to the variable heat flux imposed on a different part of the boundary through incorporating the variable thermal conductivity components into the sensitivity coefficients. To do so, a body-fitted grid generation technique is used to mesh the two-dimensional irregular body and solve the direct heat conduction problem. An efficient, accurate, robust, and easy to implement method is presented to compute the sensitivity coefficients through derived expressions. Novelty of the study is twofold: (1) Boundary-fitted grid-based sensitivity analysis in which all sensitivities can be obtained in only one direct solution (at each iteration), irrespective of the number of unknown parameters, and (2) the way the measured temperatures on part of boundary are related to a variable heat flux applied on another part of boundary through components of a variable thermal conductivity. The conjugate gradient method along with the discrepancy principle is used in the inverse analysis to minimize the objective function and achieve the desired solution
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