AUTOMATED DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR THE P2 AND P8 HYPERSONIC INLETS

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 in lets. First, the Navier-Stokes simulations of the original P2 and P8 i nlet designs are validated using numerical convergence studies and com parison with wind-tunnel experimental data for the original inlets pub lished by NASA in the early 1970s. Second, the P2 and P8 inlets are re designed with the objective of canceling the cowl shock (and, in the c ase of the P8 inlet, the additional cowl-generated compression) at the centerbody by appropriate contouring of the centerbody boundary, Tile original inlets were intended to achieve these same objectives, but d etailed experimental measurements indicated that a substantial reflect ed shock system was present, The choice of the objective function, whi ch is used to drive the optimization, has a significant impact on the final design, Several different formulations for the objective functio n have been employed, and improvements of 60-90% in the objective func tion have been achieved. This automated design system represents one o f the first successful combinations of numerical optimization methods with Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes fluid dynamics simulation for hig h-speed inlets, and demonstrates a new area in which high-performance computing may have considerable impact on problems of military and ind ustrial significance.