Article

Efficient supersonic air vehicle design using the Service-Oriented Computing Environment (SORCER)

¹ American Optimization LLC, Springboro, Ohio 45066, USA
² Aerospace Systems Directorate Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, USA

^* e-mail: scottaburton@amopti.com

Received: 4 March 2014
Accepted: 18 December 2014

Abstract

The Air Force Research Lab’s Multidisciplinary Science and Technology Center is investigating conceptual design processes and computing frameworks that could significantly impact the design of the next generation efficient supersonic air vehicle (ESAV). The ESAV conceptual design process must accommodate appropriate fidelity multidisciplinary engineering analyses (MDAs) to assess the impact of new air vehicle technologies. These analyses may be coupled and computationally expensive, posing a challenge due to the large number of air vehicle configurations analyzed during conceptual design. In light of these observations, a design process using the Service-Oriented Computing Environment (SORCER) software is implemented to combine propulsion, structures, aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, and performance in an integrated MDA. The SORCER software provides the automation and tight integration to grid computing resources necessary to achieve the volume of appropriate fidelity analyses required. Two design studies are performed using a gradient-based optimization method to produce long and short range ESAV wing designs. The studies demonstrate the capability of the ESAV MDA, the optimization algorithm, and the computational scalability and reliability of the SORCER software.