An interactive model generator/preprocessor for the multidisciplinary optimization of aircraft

The purpose of this project was to develop a dedicated software program which would simplify and partially automate the preparation of the extensive input data decks required for structural analysis and optimization with aeroelastic constraints. The result is ASTRIGS, the ASTROS Input Generation System, which was developed at the University of Oklahoma under the sponsorship of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. Within the Microsoft@ WindowsTM environment for personal computers, this preprocessor and model generator queries the user as to the configuration of the aircraft to be modeled and the parameters governing its analysis and optimization. From the responses to its "tree" of queries, the code creates a complete input data deck in ASCII code format. In addition to synthesizing a model, the program also displays a graphical image of the wing as it was described by the user's input and displays the generated data deck on the screen for inspection. Currently, the ASTRIGS output data deck file format is tailored to the NASTRAN-based multidisciplinary structural optimization code ASTROS, however, the concept is easily adapted to other optimization codes. The most significant result and principal benefit of such a dedicated preprocessor is the reduction in the time required to build a model from days to a matter of minutes. Additional benefits include the automation of tedious and error-prone modeling tasks and the ability to inspect the model in graphical as well as text format to insure that the data correctly describe the intended configuration. BACKGROUND