Parallel Aeroelastic Analysis Using ENSAERO and NASTRAN

A high fidelity parallel static structural analysis capability is created and interfaced to the multidisciplinary analysis package ENSAERO-MPI of Ames Research Center. This new module replaced ENSAERO's lower fidelity simple finite element and modal modules. Full aircraft structures may be more accurately modeled using the new finite element capability. Parallel computation is performed by breaking the full structure into multiple substructures. This approach is conceptually similar to ENSAERO's multi-zonal fluid analysis capability. The new substructure code is used to solve the structural finite element equations for each substructure in parallel. NASTRAN/COSMIC is utilized as a front end for this code. Its full library of elements can be used to create an accurate and realistic aircraft mode. It is used to create the stiffness matrices for each sub-structure. The new parallel code then uses an iterative preconditioned conjugate gradient method to solve the global structural equations for the sub-structure boundary nodes. Results are presented for a wing-body configuration.