Collaborative Design Environment for Space Launch Vehicle Design and Optimization

摘要

Like all organizations, the Air Force is interested in conducting its vehicle studies as quickly as possible with as high fidelity an analysis as is feasible and with a proven, repeatable design and analysis process. This research is in support of an approach formulated by engineers at Wright Patterson Air Force Base who seek to integrate design and analysis tools into a collaborative, network-distributed design environment. The benefits of using an integrated design environment to reduce the time and potential errors associated with the transfer of data between design and analysis codes are well documented. This research presents the integration of an initial set of space access and future strike vehicle analysis codes designed to improve the entire conceptual- level design process and documents the advantages of using the tools in a collaborative, network-distributed environment. This paper focuses on the design environment including geometry modeling, object design, discipline interactions, and design tools built for this effort including weight, propulsion, and trajectory analysis.