PRIN 2022 CALL. DECREE NO. 104 OF 2 FEBRUARY 2022
TITOLO DEL PROGETTO: HERMES - Hypersonic vehicles Enhancement via Robust Multi-fidelity optimization for the Exploitation of Space
CODICE CUP D53D23004350001
Budget: € 86.536
U.R. Coordinator Francesco Bonelli
Other Research Units: Polytechnic University of Milan
Brief project description
The project falls within the field of technologies for hypersonic flight and access to space, with particular reference to atmospheric re-entry of space vehicles, reusable launchers, and suborbital vehicles. Hypersonic flight is currently a sector of major scientific and industrial interest, as it involves applications related to research, space exploration, high-speed transport, and suborbital tourism. The design of these vehicles requires tools capable of describing complex physical phenomena, such as aerothermodynamic effects and thermochemical nonequilibrium, while also accounting for uncertainties related to operating conditions and numerical models. The project concerned the development of multifidelity methodologies for robust design and aerodynamic optimization of hypersonic vehicles.
Particular attention was devoted to modeling thermochemical processes in neutral air and in the presence of ablated species using both state-to-state models and multi-internal-temperature models derived in a self-consistent manner from the state-to-state approach.
Purpose
The project aimed to develop numerical tools and robust design methodologies for hypersonic vehicles, capable of integrating models and data with different levels of accuracy and computational cost. The objective was to improve the predictive capability of simulations by including a more accurate description of thermochemical processes for neutral air in the presence of ablated species.
A central objective was the reduction of the computational cost of the vibrationally resolved state-to-state approach through the implementation of a multi-internal-temperature approach, in which vibrational levels are grouped into sets characterized by Boltzmann distributions at different temperatures.
Expected results
The expected results concerned the definition of a multifidelity approach to reduce the computational cost of design and optimization procedures while maintaining high accuracy in predicting aerodynamic performance.
In particular, improvements were expected in state-to-state chemical kinetics models for neutral air in the presence of ablated species, as well as the development of multi-temperature internal models to reduce computational cost within a multifidelity framework.
Achieved results
The project made it possible to develop and consolidate numerical methodologies for the robust design of hypersonic vehicles, based on the integration of multifidelity models and uncertainty quantification techniques. In particular, procedures useful for the robust aerodynamic optimization of vehicles traveling at hypersonic speeds were defined. State-to-state models for the description of thermochemical phenomena in neutral air in the presence of ablated species were improved, and a multi-temperature internal model was derived to reduce computational cost. Overall, the activities carried out contributed to the development of more efficient and predictive tools for the design of hypersonic vehicles, with potential impacts on reducing launch costs and improving access to space.
