SBIR-STTR Award

Advanced numerical simulations of fluid flow and solid/structural mechanics are often used to assess the vehicle or engine performance, to identify the mechanical factors that contribute to the shortening of their life span, and to suggest design modifications that improve efficiency and durability. The latter often results in significant cost savings to the DoD. As the vehicle and engine designs get more sophisticated, the methods employed in their computational analysis must also mature accordingly to support advances in the mobility technology of the US military. The main objective of this work is to make Isogeometric Analysis (IGA), which provides superior accuracy and high-fidelity solutions, easier and more practical in computational flow and fluid-structure interaction analysis in complex engineering applications, including military and commercial mobility applications. More specifics of the software objectives include extending the CAD models to IGA models for high-fidelity computations on supercomputers, carrying out the IGA mesh generation involved without a substantial user effort, and wrapping an intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) around the IGA simulation process.

The designs of US Army vehicles, such as the Abrams tank and Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, are continuously improved to deliver increased performance on the battlefield. Advanced numerical simulations of fluid flow and solid/structural mechanics are often used to assess the vehicle or engine performance, to identify the mechanical factors that contribute to the shortening of their life span, and to suggest design modifications that improve efficiency and durability. We envision taking Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) as the foundational methodology for the proposed effort. IGA has this rare combination of accuracy and robustness, which we feel is critical for high-fidelity mechanics modeling for mobility applications. However, mesh generation in the IGA is not as established and straightforward as mesh generation in the classical methods such as the finite differences and finite elements. This presents the main impediment for the IGA-based computations to play a more significant role in supporting problem solving and design in military and commercial mobility applications. In this project we address this technical challenge.