Efficient methods for integrated structural-aerodynamic wing optimum design

The dissertation is focused on the large computational costs of integrated multidisciplinary design. Efficient techniques are developed to reduce the computational costs associated with integrated structural-aerodynamic design. First efficient methods for the calculations of the derivatives of the flexibility matrix and the aerodynamic influence coefficient matrix are developed. An adjoint method is used for the flexibility sensitivity, and a perturbation method is used for the aerodynamic sensitivity. Second a sequential optimization algorithm that employs approximate analysis methods is implemented. Finally, a modular sensitivity analysis, corresponding to the abstraction of a system as an assembly of interacting black boxes, is applied. This method was developed for calculating system sensitivity without modifying disciplinary black-box software packages. The modular approach permits the calculation of aeroelastic sensitivities without the expensive calculation of the derivatives of the flexibility matrix and the aerodynamic influence coefficient matrix.