Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “adjoint method”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2

Comparison of Evolutionary (Genetic) Algorithm and Adjoint Methods for Multi-Objective Viscous Airfoil Optimizations

A comparison between an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) and an Adjoint-Gradient (AG) Method applied to a two-dimensional Navier-Stokes code for airfoil design is presented. Both approaches use a common function evaluation code, the steady-state explicit part of the code,ARC2D. The parameterization of the design space is a common B-spline approach for an airfoil surface, which together with a common griding approach, restricts the AG and EA to the same design space. Results are presented for a class of viscous transonic airfoils in which the optimization tradeoff between drag minimization as one objective and lift maximization as another, produces the multi-objective design space. Comparisons are made for efficiency, accuracy and design consistency.

Pulliam, T. H.↗

Sonic Boom Ground Noise Minimization Via the Adjoint Method

A multidisciplinary design optimization methodology to directly minimize the ground-level noise generated by the sonic boom of a high altitude supersonic body is presented. A Cartesian Euler flow solver is coupled with an atmospheric propagation tool to create a ground-noise analysis capability for supersonic bodies. Adjoint formulations for both the flow solver and propagation tool are also coupled to compute sensitivities of shape variations in the body in a highly efficient manner. A gradient-based optimizer is then introduced to forge a valuable design capability. Output-based mesh adaptation that is driven directly by ground-level noise is employed to increase accuracy and provide error estimation. The design method is demonstrated first on a simple axisymmetric body with few design variables to evaluate the efficacy of the optimization scheme. Guided by the results of this initial case, the problem is then repeated with somewhat different design variables to further demonstrate the capabilities of the design method. Finally, the method is applied to a real-world problem by optimizing control surface deflection settings of a low-boom aircraft to minimize ground noise while maintaining trimmed, level flight.

ARMD↗

Practical Aerodynamic Design Optimization Based on the Navier-Stokes Equations and a Discrete Adjoint Method

Compressible and incompressible versions of a three-dimensional unstructured mesh Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver have been differentiated and resulting derivatives have been verified by comparisons with finite differences and a complex-variable approach. In this implementation, the turbulence model is fully coupled with the flow equations in order to achieve this consistency. The accuracy demonstrated in the current work represents the first time that such an approach has been successfully implemented. The accuracy of a number of simplifying approximations to the linearizations of the residual have been examined. A first-order approximation to the dependent variables in both the adjoint and design equations has been investigated. The effects of a "frozen" eddy viscosity and the ramifications of neglecting some mesh sensitivity terms were also examined. It has been found that none of the approximations yielded derivatives of acceptable accuracy and were often of incorrect sign. However, numerical experiments indicate that an incomplete convergence of the adjoint system often yield sufficiently accurate derivatives, thereby significantly lowering the time required for computing sensitivity information. The convergence rate of the adjoint solver relative to the flow solver has been examined. Inviscid adjoint solutions typically require one to four times the cost of a flow solution, while for turbulent adjoint computations, this ratio can reach as high as eight to ten. Numerical experiments have shown that the adjoint solver can stall before converging the solution to machine accuracy, particularly for viscous cases. A possible remedy for this phenomenon would be to include the complete higher-order linearization in the preconditioning step, or to employ a simple form of mesh sequencing to obtain better approximations to the solution through the use of coarser meshes. An efficient surface parameterization based on a free-form deformation technique has been utilized and the resulting codes have been integrated with an optimization package. Lastly, sample optimizations have been shown for inviscid and turbulent flow over an ONERA M6 wing. Drag reductions have been demonstrated by reducing shock strengths across the span of the wing. In order for large scale optimization to become routine, the benefits of parallel architectures should be exploited. Although the flow solver has been parallelized using compiler directives. The parallel efficiency is under 50 percent. Clearly, parallel versions of the codes will have an immediate impact on the ability to design realistic configurations on fine meshes, and this effort is currently underway.

Grossman, Bernard↗

Practical Aerodynamic Design Optimization Based on the Navier-Stokes Equations and a Discrete Adjoint Method

The technical details are summarized below: Compressible and incompressible versions of a three-dimensional unstructured mesh Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver have been differentiated and resulting derivatives have been verified by comparisons with finite differences and a complex-variable approach. In this implementation, the turbulence model is fully coupled with the flow equations in order to achieve this consistency. The accuracy demonstrated in the current work represents the first time that such an approach has been successfully implemented. The accuracy of a number of simplifying approximations to the linearizations of the residual have been examined. A first-order approximation to the dependent variables in both the adjoint and design equations has been investigated. The effects of a "frozen" eddy viscosity and the ramifications of neglecting some mesh sensitivity terms were also examined. It has been found that none of the approximations yielded derivatives of acceptable accuracy and were often of incorrect sign. However, numerical experiments indicate that an incomplete convergence of the adjoint system often yield sufficiently accurate derivatives, thereby significantly lowering the time required for computing sensitivity information. The convergence rate of the adjoint solver relative to the flow solver has been examined. Inviscid adjoint solutions typically require one to four times the cost of a flow solution, while for turbulent adjoint computations, this ratio can reach as high as eight to ten. Numerical experiments have shown that the adjoint solver can stall before converging the solution to machine accuracy, particularly for viscous cases. A possible remedy for this phenomenon would be to include the complete higher-order linearization in the preconditioning step, or to employ a simple form of mesh sequencing to obtain better approximations to the solution through the use of coarser meshes. . An efficient surface parameterization based on a free-form deformation technique has been utilized and the resulting codes have been integrated with an optimization package. Lastly, sample optimizations have been shown for inviscid and turbulent flow over an ONERA M6 wing. Drag reductions have been demonstrated by reducing shock strengths across the span of the wing.

Grossman, Bernard↗

Shape optimization governed by the Euler equations using an adjoint method

A numerical approach for the treatment of optimal shape problems governed by the Euler equations is discussed. Focus is on flows with embedded shocks. A very simple problem is considered: the design of a quasi-one-dimensional Laval nozzle. A cost function and a set of Lagrange multipliers are introduced to achieve the minimum. The nature of the resulting costate equations is discussed. A theoretical difficulty that arises for cases with embedded shocks is pointed out and solved. Finally, some results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the method.

Iollo, Angelo↗

Combined assimilation of hydrography and TOPEX data into an Indian Ocean GCM using the adjoint method

To study seasonal circulation and meridional heat transport of the Indian Ocean by synthesizing dynamics with data, climatological monthly temperatures and salinities, surface heat and freshewater fluxes, and wind stresses, together with monthly ensembles of three years (93-95) of TOPEX-derived surface geostrophic velocity anomalies, are assimilated into an Indian Ocean GCM.

Hydrography Indian Ocean TOPEX meridional heat tra↗

Adjoint Algorithm for CAD-Based Shape Optimization Using a Cartesian Method

Adjoint solutions of the governing flow equations are becoming increasingly important for the development of efficient analysis and optimization algorithms. A well-known use of the adjoint method is gradient-based shape optimization. Given an objective function that defines some measure of performance, such as the lift and drag functionals, its gradient is computed at a cost that is essentially independent of the number of design variables (geometric parameters that control the shape). More recently, emerging adjoint applications focus on the analysis problem, where the adjoint solution is used to drive mesh adaptation, as well as to provide estimates of functional error bounds and corrections. The attractive feature of this approach is that the mesh-adaptation procedure targets a specific functional, thereby localizing the mesh refinement and reducing computational cost. Our focus is on the development of adjoint-based optimization techniques for a Cartesian method with embedded boundaries.12 In contrast t o implementations on structured and unstructured grids, Cartesian methods decouple the surface discretization from the volume mesh. This feature makes Cartesian methods well suited for the automated analysis of complex geometry problems, and consequently a promising approach to aerodynamic optimization. Melvin et developed an adjoint formulation for the TRANAIR code, which is based on the full-potential equation with viscous corrections. More recently, Dadone and Grossman presented an adjoint formulation for the Euler equations. In both approaches, a boundary condition is introduced to approximate the effects of the evolving surface shape that results in accurate gradient computation. Central to automated shape optimization algorithms is the issue of geometry modeling and control. The need to optimize complex, "real-life" geometry provides a strong incentive for the use of parametric-CAD systems within the optimization procedure. In previous work, we presented an effective optimization framework that incorporates a direct-CAD interface. In this work, we enhance the capabilities of this framework with efficient gradient computations using the discrete adjoint method. We present details of the adjoint numerical implementation, which reuses the domain decomposition, multigrid, and time-marching schemes of the flow solver. Furthermore, we explain and demonstrate the use of CAD in conjunction with the Cartesian adjoint approach. The final paper will contain a number of complex geometry, industrially relevant examples with many design variables to demonstrate the effectiveness of the adjoint method on Cartesian meshes.

Nemec, Marian↗

Local-in-Time Adjoint-Based Method for Optimal Control/Design Optimization of Unsteady Compressible Flows

.We study local-in-time adjoint-based methods for minimization of ow matching functionals subject to the 2-D unsteady compressible Euler equations. The key idea of the local-in-time method is to construct a very accurate approximation of the global-in-time adjoint equations and the corresponding sensitivity derivative by using only local information available on each time subinterval. In contrast to conventional time-dependent adjoint-based optimization methods which require backward-in-time integration of the adjoint equations over the entire time interval, the local-in-time method solves local adjoint equations sequentially over each time subinterval. Since each subinterval contains relatively few time steps, the storage cost of the local-in-time method is much lower than that of the global adjoint formulation, thus making the time-dependent optimization feasible for practical applications. The paper presents a detailed comparison of the local- and global-in-time adjoint-based methods for minimization of a tracking functional governed by the Euler equations describing the ow around a circular bump. Our numerical results show that the local-in-time method converges to the same optimal solution obtained with the global counterpart, while drastically reducing the memory cost as compared to the global-in-time adjoint formulation.

Yamaleev, N. K.↗

Adjoint-Based Methods for Estimating CO2 Sources and Sinks from Atmospheric Concentration Data

Work to develop adjoint-based methods for estimating CO2 sources and sinks from atmospheric concentration data was initiated in preparation for last year's summer institute on Carbon Data Assimilation (CDAS) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. The workshop exercises used the GSFC Parameterized Chemistry and Transport Model and its adjoint. Since the workshop, a number of simulations have been run to evaluate the performance of the model adjoint. Results from these simulations will be presented, along with an outline of challenges associated with incorporating a variety of disparate data sources, from sparse, but highly precise, surface in situ observations to less accurate, global future satellite observations.

Andrews, Arlyn E.↗

An adjoint-based method for optimising MHD equilibria against the infinite- n , ideal ballooning mode

We demonstrate a fast adjoint-based method to optimise tokamak and stellarator equilibria against a pressure-driven instability known as the infinite-n ideal ballooning mode. We present three finite-β (the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure) equilibria: one tokamak equilibrium and two stellarator equilibria that are unstable against the ballooning mode. Using the self-adjoint property of ideal magnetohydrodynamics, we construct a technique to rapidly calculate the change in the eigenvalue, a measure of ideal ballooning instability. Using the SIMSOPT optimisation framework, we then implement our fast adjoint gradient-based optimiser to minimise the eigenvalue and find stable equilibria for each of the three originally unstable equilibria.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Adjoint variational methods in nonconservative stability problems.

A general nonself-adjoint eigenvalue problem is examined and it is shown that the commonly employed approximate methods, such as the Galerkin procedure, the method of weighted residuals and the least square technique lack variational descriptions. When used in their previously known forms they do not yield stationary eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. With the help of an adjoint system, however, several analogous variational descriptions may be developed and it is shown in the present study that by properly restating the method of least squares, stationary eigenvalues may be obtained. Several properties of the adjoint eigenvalue problem, known only for a restricted group, are shown to exist for the more general class selected for study.

Prasad, S. N.↗

Adjoint-Based Methodology for Time-Dependent Optimization

This paper presents a discrete adjoint method for a broad class of time-dependent optimization problems. The time-dependent adjoint equations are derived in terms of the discrete residual of an arbitrary finite volume scheme which approximates unsteady conservation law equations. Although only the 2-D unsteady Euler equations are considered in the present analysis, this time-dependent adjoint method is applicable to the 3-D unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with minor modifications. The discrete adjoint operators involving the derivatives of the discrete residual and the cost functional with respect to the flow variables are computed using a complex-variable approach, which provides discrete consistency and drastically reduces the implementation and debugging cycle. The implementation of the time-dependent adjoint method is validated by comparing the sensitivity derivative with that obtained by forward mode differentiation. Our numerical results show that O(10) optimization iterations of the steepest descent method are needed to reduce the objective functional by 3-6 orders of magnitude for test problems considered.

Yamaleev, N. K.↗

An Exact Dual Adjoint Solution Method for Turbulent Flows on Unstructured Grids

An algorithm for solving the discrete adjoint system based on an unstructured-grid discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations is presented. The method is constructed such that an adjoint solution exactly dual to a direct differentiation approach is recovered at each time step, yielding a convergence rate which is asymptotically equivalent to that of the primal system. The new approach is implemented within a three-dimensional unstructured-grid framework and results are presented for inviscid, laminar, and turbulent flows. Improvements to the baseline solution algorithm, such as line-implicit relaxation and a tight coupling of the turbulence model, are also presented. By storing nearest-neighbor terms in the residual computation, the dual scheme is computationally efficient, while requiring twice the memory of the flow solution. The scheme is expected to have a broad impact on computational problems related to design optimization as well as error estimation and grid adaptation efforts.

Nielsen, Eric J.↗