Approximate surface pressures and heat load gradients for the optimisation of hypersonic vehicles

Approximate surface pressures and heat load gradients for the optimisation of hypersonic vehicles

Gradient (sensitivity) information -- how pressure or heat load acting on a hypersonic vehicle varies with change in design parameters is highly valuable in many engineering applications. For example, it provides insight into how performance metric (e.g. Lift) can be altered by changing design parameters. In Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimisation (MDAO), it is an enabler for gradient-based approaches. However, the computation of such gradients can be problematic, especially when working with large numbers of design parameters, due to high compute costs and/or the need for specialist CFD solvers. In prior work, we demonstrated an approximate method for calculating gradients in surface pressure with respect to design parameters. In the current paper, we expand this in two ways. First, we expand this method to include gradients in fluid temperature, and thus heat transfer. Second, we explore the impact of the approximate methods on optimisation outcomes.

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