NASA SBIR 2014 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
CFD Research Corporation
701 McMillian Way Notrhwest, S
Huntsville, AL 35806 - 2923
(256) 726-4800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Yi Wang
yxw@cfdrc.com
701 McMillian Way NW, Suite D
Huntsville, AL 35806 - 2923
(256) 726-4800

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Silvia Harvey
sxh@cfdrc.com
701 McMillian Way NW, Suite D
Huntsville, AL 35806 - 2923
(256) 726-4858

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 4

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Structural Efficiency-Aeroservoelasticity is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The overall goal of the project is to develop reliable reduced order modeling technologies to automatically generate nonlinear, parameter-varying (PV), aeroservoelastic (ASE) reduced-order models (ROMs) for aerostructural sensing and control. The Phase I effort will focus on developing several key engines, including parameter-varying aerodynamic ROMs (AeroROM), structural dynamics ROM, as well as a scheme to integrate the AeroROM, structural ROM, sensor, actuator, and control law for integrated ASE analysis in the entire flight envelope. A modular software framework will be established for automated data exchange, PV AeroROM and structural ROM generation, ROM integration, computation, and verification. The feasibility of the proposed technology will be demonstrated for several ASE test problems of NASA interest (e.g., Aerostructures Test Wing and X-56A MUTT). The Phase II effort will focus on: (1) ROM engine optimization in terms of functionality, execution efficiency, and automated parameter selection; and (2) software environment enhancements with direct interfacing to NASA-relevant simulation and controller design tools, and fully automated ROM process for technology insertion and transition; and (3) extensive software validation and demonstration for ASE and flight control analysis of realistic aircrafts of current NASA interest.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The proposed technology will provide a fast and accurate analysis tool for aeroservoelastic simulations of aerospace vehicles and aircrafts. NASA applications of the technology include: (1) rapid and computationally affordable analysis for optimal aerodynamic and structural design of aerospace vehicles; (2) development of advanced, reliable aeroservoelastic control strategies (such as controlled maneuver, and aeroelastic instability control, e.g., buffet, flutter, buzz, and control reversal); and (3) arrangement of test procedures for rational use of instruments and facilities. The success in the proposed research will markedly reduce the development cycles of aerospace vehicles and aircrafts at reduced costs. NASA programs like aerostructures test wing, active AeroElastic Wing (AEW) and active twist rotors, Multi-Use Technology Testbed (MUTT) will also stand to benefit from the technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The non-NASA markets and customers of the proposed software are enormous and include various aerospace, aircraft, and watercraft engineering sectors (involving fluid-structure-control interaction). Potential end-users and customers include various government agencies such as US Air Force, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), US Army, Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and US Navy, as well as aircraft, and automobile industries. In addition, the proposed technology will also find broad markets in other industries such as aircraft and aerospace, combustion, power, propulsion, chemical processing, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The proposed research would directly contribute to these vital areas by providing a powerful tool to generate fast ROMs, which can be extensively used to (1) analyze the operating processes for fault diagnostics and optimized design (e.g., structure and fatigue analysis, real-time flow control and optimization, hardware-in-loop simulation); and (2) develop advanced strategies for on-line process monitoring and control.