language: en

[To appear in Journal of Aircraft, Vol 34, No. 2, March-April 1997]

Automated Design Optimization for the P2 and P8 Hypersonic Inlets

Vijay Shukla , Andrew Gelsey , Mark Schwabacher Donald Smith , Doyle D. Knight
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
February 20, 1997

[To appear in Journal of Aircraft, Vol 34, No. 2, March-April 1997]

[Copyright c by Vijay Shukla, Andrew Gelsey, Mark Schwabacher, Donald Smith and Doyle D. Knight.]

Abstract An automated design methodology incorporating industry-standard Navier-Stokes codes and a gradient-based optimizer has been developed. This system is used to redesign the well-known NASA P2 and P8 hypersonic inlets. First, the Navier-Stokes simulations of the original P2 and P8 inlet designs are validated using numerical convergence studies and comparison with wind-tunnel experimental data for the original inlets published by NASA in the early 1970s. Second, the P2 and P8 inlets are redesigned with the objective of canceling the cowl shock (and, in the case of the P8 inlet, the additional cowl-generated compression) at the centerbody by appropriate contouring of the centerbody boundary. The original inlets were intended to achieve these same objectives, but detailed experimental measurements indicated that a substantial reflected shock system was present. The choice of the objective function, which is used to drive the optimization, has a significant impact on the final design. Several different formulations for the objective function have been employed, and improvements of 60% to 90% in the objective function have been achieved. This automated design system represents one of the first successful combinations of numerical optimization methods with Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes fluid dynamics simulation for high speed inlets, and demonstrates a new area in which High Performance Computing may have considerable impact on problems of military and industrial significance.

[Postdoctoral Research Associate,]

Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

[AIAA Member. Assistant Professor,]

Computer Science Dept.

[AIAA Member. Graduate Student,]

Computer Science Dept.

[Assistant Professor,]

Computer Science Dept.

[Professor,]

Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

[AIAA Associate Fellow.]