REVOLUTIONIZING AEROSPACE WITH HYPERSONIC TECHNOLOGY

A Comprehensive Physics-Based Toolset for
Analyzing Hypersonic Structures and Engines

The hypersonic environment poses extreme technology challenges for aerospace vehicles that must withstand large aerodynamic loads in severe and sustained thermal environments, requiring durability with minimal weight to achieve mission speed and range goals. As our customers have pursued modernized solutions for high-speed commercial air travel, reentry vehicles for space exploration, and warfighter capabilities to counter emergent threats to national security, they have found limitations in conventional modeling and simulation tools to meet their needs for delivering systems that reliably meet performance requirements within stringent cost and schedule constraints. ATA Engineering (ATA) has addressed this technology gap by advancing modern digital engineering tools that leverage trusted solvers within specialized simulation frameworks to achieve greater realism in predicting the complex, multiphysics responses of materials and systems in hypersonic flight.

Our Toolset

Partially through multiagency DoD and NASA research funding, ATA continues to develop a suite of computational tools that provide new insights throughout the design, modeling, and analysis of high-speed systems. These tools include COMPAS, ATA’s material characterization software framework for simulating manufacturing processes used in producing the unique high-temperature composites that often comprise vehicle thermal protection systems (TPS). COMPAS also brings a capability to calibrate nonlinear material model properties for informed prediction of operational material performance. Furthermore, ATA has enabled our customers to gain understanding of a system’s performance prior to ground testing or flight by developing the Multiphysics Engine, which has been confirmed through extensive validation to accurately represent the hypersonic environment and system response. The Multiphysics Engine does so by carefully coupling high-fidelity physics solvers to capture the complex fluid, thermal, structural, and thermochemical dynamics feedback effects, including finite-rate chemistry predictions of material ablation and shape change.

Finally, ATA’s Radiometric Signature Prediction (RASP) software streamlines workflows for predicting system observability by transforming rapid low-fidelity models or high-fidelity Multiphysics Engine results into inputs for trusted Government-controlled codes for assessment of vehicle infrared signatures and radar cross section.

Many of ATA’s modeling tools and prior work publications related to simulation of hypersonic and reentry systems are subject to restrictions under International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Government security classification. Contact us today to discuss your challenges and how we can support success of your mission at an appropriate level of security.