In the design of modern aircraft it is essential to incorporate as much information as possible about unsteady aerodynamic criteria into the conceptual design phase. This is the topic in the Solicitation. This has led to the need for modeling tools that are both accurate and computationally fast. One such model is the use of indicial response functions. However, in the transonic flow regime, where the most critical unsteady loads occur the indicial response functions are very dependent on the wing geometry and hence a new indicial function has to be computed for every geometry change. This removes most of the benefit when used in a design optimization. The innovation proposed in Phase 1 is the development of a "universal indicial function" for transonic flows which will allow an extremely fast estimation of the loads for conceptual design. This technique will be extended in Phase 2 and coupled with other techniques to provide a comprehensive prediction capability that can be used for conceptual or preliminary design.If successful the research will lead to the development of commercially viable software for the prediction of unsteady transonic flow. This method will be sufficiently fast for use in an optimizer; there is a market for this type of product in the aerospace industry.
Keywords: Phase_I, NASA, Abstract, FY94
