Hybrid FEM-ROM for Aero-Thermo-Structural Analyses of Panel-Frame Assemblies

The investigation focuses on the fully coupled aero-thermo-structural analyses of high-speed vehicles including the outer mold components (referred to as panels here) and the underlying structure (referred to as the frame here). A computational strategy to “condense” the structural and thermal finite element models (FEMs) of the heated frame onto its panel counterparts is developed to provide a reduction, potentially large, of the number of degrees of freedom of the models. This condensation is achieved by assuming that i) the structural response is quasi static and ii) the frame behaves linearly, whereas the panel does not. Then, the condensation process will be shown to still require a model of the temperature distribution in the entire frame, and a thermal reduced order model (ROM) will be proposed for that task. It is further integrated into the thermal finite element of the panel to allow a convenient single framework for the entire computational analysis. The methodology will be demonstrated and validated on a complex panel–frame assembly designed for tests carried out in the Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s high-speed wind tunnel.