The primary objective of the present SBIR proposal is to develop a new design methodology and applying it to demonstrate the feasibility of rendering minimized missile fin hinge moment covering all possible critical flight conditions while satisfying maneuverability requirements by passive or… More

An innovative variable stiffness spar (VSS) approach is proposed for the enhancement of aircraft roll performance. F/A-18 pre-roll-modification aircraft (F/A-18 PRM) is selected as the baseline aircraft for its low torsional wing stiffness and available baseline data. The F/A-18 PRM, when… More

Not Available Axial and divert motors and nozzles require complex shapes which are light weight, strong and shock resistant at high temperatures. Carbon-carbon (C-C) is an ideal material for this application and can be formed into net shape components at low cost. Heretofore, C-C has been limited… More

The phase II objective is to develop a general design/analysis methodology as a design tool to predict the dynamic responses and fatigue life of composite structures in high thermal gradient and under high acoustic loading for new generation hypersonicflight vehicles and propulsion system… More

Current Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle (TAV) design requires Aerothermoelastic analysis to ascertain the TAV/TPS (thermal protection system) structural integrity in extreme hypersonic environments. A comprehensive aerothermoelastic software system requires ahigh-fidelity hypersonic unsteady aerodynamics… More

For aircraft /store compatibility, a comprehensive software system requested by the Air Force for rapid assessment of flutter and ejection loads (RAFEL) poses challenging requirements. With ZAERO aeroelastic software as a base, ZONA can establish a RAFELsystem satisfying all AF's requirements.… More

The Zona technology/Duke University team process a challenging set of tasks to be accomplished in two years time that builds upon the very substantial progress already made in Phase I. Specifically, the 2D, Euler Euations CFD model (developed in Phase I)that uses a harmonic balance solution… More

"The total project objective is to develop a projectile thatextends its range without a rocket motor via optimal oblique-wingaerodynamic gliding. It should weigh about as much as theExtended Range Guided Munition (ERGM), have the same length, mustsurvive the same g-load (~12,500 g's), and have a… More

Phase I has successfully proven the capability of ZAERO/UAIC the underlying software of RAFEL in capturing all three flutter/LCO cases in transonic flights classified by AF/SEO. In so doing, the transonic module ZTAIC and the g-method of ZAERO areinstrumental in providing the supercritical… More

"In Phase I, ZONA unified hypersonic/supersonic aerodynamic method ZONA7U in the aerothermoelastic software development for TPS/TAV design/analysis, was proven a successful tool through feasibility cases studied in the CKEM body, blunt cones and X-34wing-body. Further upgrade of ZONA7U to a… More

"We take advantage of the flexibility of slender missiles, rather than treating it as an undesirable feature, by using smart structure (PZT) to actuate the CKEM center-body in achieving instant bending through aeroelastic amplification. Thus, the CKEM canbe controlled effectively in… More

"The focus of the proposed effort is on the prediction of the fatigue life of composite panels subjected to thermal effects, inducing buckling, and a strong acoustic excitation which may force the panel to "jump" from one buckled configuration to another.The fatigue life will be estimated through… More

ZONA proposed in Phase I a CKEM central body with body-flexure/PZT control design concept on account of the hypersonic aeroelastic amplification. The merit of the CKEM body-flexure/PZT control, in its design simplicity, lower weight and drag and withfeasible power required, has been confirmed by… More

This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a unified gas-kinetic computational algorithm, which can cover the whole flight regime, including continuum, transitional, and rarefied. The method is not only able to extend current computational aerodynamicand aerothermodynamic methods to a much wider… More

ZONA Technology and the University of Florida propose an R&D effort to establish a Robust Aeroservoelastic Toolbox (RASET) with emphasis on nonlinear identification, modeling and analysis. The RASET will serve the next-generation flutterometer. The toolbox augments the current mu-method analysis… More

The design of the panels of future reusable launch vehicles will represent a particularly challenging task as these structural components will be subjected to some thermal effects, potentially severe random acoustic excitations and will support a complex thermal protection system (TPS). The… More

Design-oriented steady and unsteady aerodynamic analysis tools for Aeroelastic / Aeroservoelastic evaluation lag significantly behind other multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) developments for aerospace vehicle design. In almost all MDO studies to date involving configuration shape… More

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a highly accurate reconstruction module for Godunov-type schemes to upgrade the capability of current multidisciplinary computational software packages for simulation of a class of engineering problems with small scales and high… More

Among the critical components of the next generation launch technology (NGLT) is the design of panels and ?integrated panel systems? (panel + support + thermal protection system). Such an effort can be built upon ELSTEP/FAT, an existing ZONA software providing accurate predictions of the response… More

This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop an automated design optimization tool for electromagnetic flow control based on the gas-kinetic BGK scheme and the adjoint optimization method. A non-equilibrium BGK solver will be generalized to explicitly take into account the acceleration and… More

ZONA proposes to investigate a novel family of algorithms designed to solve the boundary condition identification problem (BCIP) to extract accurate multi-dimensional heat transfer coefficient maps that are required for the design of advanced/revolutionary turbomachinery components. ZONA will… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project will develop an innovative unified coordinates approach to gridless computation. Instead of using the spatially fixed Eulerian coordinate system as in most Computional Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computation, the proposed unified… More

ZONA Technology proposes an R&D effort to develop a POD/RSM (Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and Response Surface Method) methodology for the prediction of low-Reynolds number aerodynamics on Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). By operating on a set of computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solutions computed… More

ZONA Technology proposes to develop an enhanced model updating nonlinear system identification (MUNSID) methodology by adopting the flight data with state-of-the-art control oriented techniques. The end product is a flight data enhanced MUNSID/ZAERO toolbox for accurate predictions of flutter and… More

ZONA Technology proposes an R&D effort to establish a practical modeling and synthesis framework for the control of morphing elastic wing structures. The complex nonlinear dynamic behavior of the UAV during the in-flying morphing process will be approximated by linear parameter-varying, LPV, models… More

The ZONA Team proposes to establish an Aero-Servo-Propulso-Elastic (ASPE) methodology as a conceptual design/analysis tool for the stability and control of a Single Engine Missile (SEM) model, representing a generic hypersonic wave-rider with airbreathing/scramjet engine. With body flexibility… More

Time simulation of a nonlinear aerodynamics model (NA) developed at Virginia Tech coupled with a nonlinear structure model (NS) is proposed as a design/analysis methodology for highly flexible HALE/morphing aircraft. With this nonlinear aero-structure (NAS) approach, large structure deformations… More

ZONA Technology proposed in Phase I a modeling and synthesis framework for the control of morphing elastic wing structures. The merit of the novel strategy to control in-flight large-scale geometrical shape changes while maintaining the overall vehicle stability and control, has been confirmed by… More

ZONA Technology (ZONA) proposes to develop an enhanced model updating nonlinear system identification (MUNSID) methodology that utilizes flight data with state-of-the-art control oriented techniques. The MUNSID toolbox augments the current match-point solution approach using the mu-analysis method… More

ZONA Technology proposes in Phase I to develop a general methodology for the assembly of nonlinear reduced order models of the multiple contracting substructures that will likely provide the morphing of future vehicles. In addition it is proposed to extend the existing 2D… More

ZONA Technology proposes a R&D effort to develop a Parameter-Varying Estimation (PVE) Toolbox that will rapidly evaluate and predict parameters that are required to certify an aircraft during flutter and store clearance expansion programs, as well as during flying qualities flight testing. The ZONA… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes a R&D effort to develop a Unified Nonlinear Flight Dynamics and Aeroelastic Simulator (UNFDAS) Tool that will combine proven simulation and visualization techniques to accurately match in-flight recorded dynamic behavior of an air vehicle. ZONA proposes to… More

Conventional air-vehicle designs are subjected to a well-set system/operational requirements. Scramjet-powered vehicle (SPV) design however enters an unprecedented level of multidisciplinary synergy to achieve its operational requirements. Through a convoluted and inverse design strategy for SPV,… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes a R&D effort to develop a Parameter-Varying Estimation (PVE) Toolbox that will rapidly evaluate and predict parameters that are required to certify an aircraft during flutter envelope and flying qualities programs. The work carried out successfully during the… More

The ZONA Team proposes to develop a nonlinear aeroelastic/aeroservoelastic methodology for free-play (FP)/LCO analysis and prediction for aircraft control surfaces at various trim conditions and subjected to gust/pilot commend excitations. In phase I, a CartEuler-based FP/LCO methodology (CEFM) will… More

A novel approach is proposed for the suppression of the aircraft's structural vibration to increase the resilience of the flight control law in the presence of the aeroelastic/aeroservoelastic (AE/ASE) interactions. Currently aircrafts with non-adaptive control laws usually include roll-off or notch… More

ZONA Technology proposes to develop an innovative nonlinear structural reduced order model (ROM) - nonlinear aerodynamic ROM methodology for the inflatable aeroelasticity of a clamped modeled ballute system. The proposed ROM-ROM methodology tightly couples a nonlinear-FEM based structural ROM with… More

ZONA Technology, Inc (ZONA) and Arizona State University (ASU) propose a R&D effort to develop a ground flutter testing system without wind tunnel, called the Dry Wind Tunnel (DWT) system. The DWT system consists of a ground vibration test (GVT) hardware system and a real-time unsteady aerodynamic… More

ZONA Team proposes in Phase II to develop a general nonlinear methodology with a new and expedient reduced-order-modeling-based procedure as well as direct numerical simulation capability for nonlinear aeroelastic design/analysis of air-vehicles and MAVs under continuous dynamic morphing The… More

ZONA proposes a phase II effort to fully develop a comprehensive methodology for aeroelastic predictions of the nonlinear aerodynamic/aerothermodynamic - structure interaction (NANSI) on ballutes during hypersonic atmospheric entry, including potential surface wrinkling. A time-accurate Boltzmann… More

A Multiscale GasKinetic/Particle (MGP) computational method is proposed to simulate the plume-crater-interaction/dust-impingement(PCIDI) problem. The MGP method consists of a multiscale gaskinetic (MG) method for gasdynamics of rocket plume-in-vacuum flowfield, an Overlay method for gas-particle… More

An Adaptive Feedforward and Feedback Control (AFFC) Framework is proposed to suppress the aircraft's structural vibrations and to increase the resilience of the flight control law, in the presence of AE/ASE interactions. Specifically, the adaptive feedforward controller is designed to reduce any… More

A consistent time-accurate Hybrid gaskinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) method (H-BGK), valid in the full Knudsen number (Kn) range, is proposed using Cartesian grid as a 3D tool to handle hypersonic aerothermodynamics from continuum to thermochemical nonequilibrium and ionized/plasma flows. H-BGK… More

In practically all air-vehicle MDO studies to date involving configuration shape optimization, dynamic Aeroservoelastic constraints had to be left out. Flutter, gust stresses, vibration, and ride comfort cannot still be accounted for in MDO involving configuration shape variations. Development of… More

A consistent and accurate Hybrid gaskinetic BGK and DSMC method, valid in the full Knudsen number (Kn) range, is proposed as a 3D tool to handle hypersonic aerothermodynamics from continuum to thermochemical nonequilibrium and ionized/plasma flows. By domain-decomposition, the proposed method will… More

CFD-based design-oriented (DO) steady/unsteady aerodynamic analysis tools for Aeroelastic / Aeroservoelastic (AE/ASE) evaluation lag significantly behind other multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) developments for flight vehicle design. In practically all studies to date involving… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes to develop an on-line flutter prediction tool for wind tunnel model using the parameter varying estimation (PVE) technique to ensure the safety of the flutter model as well as the wind tunnel system. This tool will be applied to rapidly evaluate parameters, such… More

Multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO) tools developed to perform multi-disciplinary analysis based on low fidelity computation methods have been used in aircraft conceptual design for decades. These tools have been proven very effective for simple problems and mostly have been developed… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes to develop an integrated flight dynamics simulation capability with nonlinear aeroelastic interactions by combining a flight dynamics model and an added-on nonlinear aeroelastic solver in a Simulink environment. This nonlinear aeroelastic solver is generated by… More

An efficient and accurate software package named ZMGP (ZONA Multi-scale Gaskinetic/Particle simulation package) is proposed as a 3D tool to predict the lunar dust trajectory and crater formation process when a retro-rocket lands on the lunar surface. ZMGP has many special features including: 1, the… More

Multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization (MDAO) tools today possess limited disciplines with little fidelity modeling capability. These tools are typically developed as a single large software application that performs analysis for all disciplines but has little or no capability to… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes to develop an on-line flutter prediction tool using the parameter varying estimation (PVE) methodology, called the PVE Toolbox, to ensure the flight safety during the flight flutter test and to prevent the damage to the wind tunnel hardware from the structural… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. proposes to develop an integrated flight dynamics simulation capability with nonlinear aeroelastic interactions by combining a flight dynamics model and an add-on nonlinear aeroelastic solver in a Simulink environment. This nonlinear aeroelastic solver is generated by… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes an R\ & D effort to develop an Experimental Model Based Feedback Control (EMBFC) Framework for the flutter suppression and gust load alleviation (GLA). The resilience of the flight control law in the presence of aeroelastic/aeroservoelastic (AE/ASE)… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. proposes an R & D effort to develop an adaptive flight control system which can provide near-nominal performance for the aircraft under off-nominal conditions, consequently reduce pilot-vehicle interactions. Furthermore, this adaptive control system is combined with a… More

ZONA proposes a Unified Gas Kinetic Scheme (UGKS) to cover the full Knudsen number range from the continuum flow to free molecular flow that can simultaneously exist in the jet nozzle flow of the spacecraft. In the UGKS solver, the BGK model of Boltzmann equation is solved directly with finite… More

ABSTRACT: ZONA proposes to develop a comprehensive virtual flight test software system by enhancing the capabilities of the ZONA's Stick-To-Stress Dynamic Flight Simulation (STS-DFS)"previously developed under AFRL contractual support. The current STS-DFS combines flight dynamic model and… More

ABSTRACT: The Phase I technical objective is twofold. First, the ZONA/MIT team will develop an Unsteady Aero-Structural Adjoint (UASA) methodology and implement it in a 2-D unsteady Euler solver. The objective of the effort is to investigate and resolve the technical issues involved in the… More

ZONA Technology, Inc. proposes an R & D effort to develop a Gust Load Alleviation (GLA) control system using a novel Leading Edge Stagnation Point (LESP) sensor that has the nearly instantaneous predictive capability. The real-time gust information from the sensor will enhance the performance of… More

In this effort, ZONA Technology, Inc. aims at developing an innovative multi-fidelity and multi-disciplinary optimization (MDO) sub-framework that can (i) effectively reduce the number of design variables without screening-out any of the variables, (ii) accelerate the convergence through a novel… More

ABSTRACT: The ability to ascertain rapid and accurate aeroelastic system stability margin as well as the ability to extract flight test structure mode shapes for on-the-fly investigation of aero-structure interactions are some of the real challenges facing control room engineers during flight… More