Prerequisite: permission of instructor. (3 credits)
This course is an introduction to numerical optimization methods and their application to engineering design. Topics include: gradient-based methods (descent, quasi-Newton), computation of gradients for optimization (finite-difference, complex-step, adjoint methods), gradient-free methods (non-linear simplex, genetic algorithms), approximation methods, architectures for multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO). Both analytic problems and applications to aerodynamics, structures and other aerospace disciplines are explored through computational assignments.
Prerequisite: AEROSP 315, AEROSP 325, AEROSP 335 and AEROSP 348 can be concurrent. (4 credits)
Multidisciplinary integration of aerodynamics, performance, stability and control, propulsion, structures and aeroelasticity in a system approach aimed at designing an aircraft for a set of specifications. Includes weight estimates, configuration and power plant selection, tail-sizing, maneuver and gust diagrams, wing loading, structural and aeroelastic analysis. Students work in teams on the design project.