High Speed Aircraft

About the aircraft: This Finite Element Model (FEM) is a new (2004) variant of the SR71 Blackbird. It is intended to fly at speeds of Mach 3 to Mach 5 and was designed for the Air Force Research Lab as a military Long Range Strike (LRS).

HyperSizer performs hundreds of different analyses such as panel buckling, crippling, beam-column, bonded and bolted joint, composite strength to damage initiation and damage tolerance criteria, etc. for the entire vehicle from engine nacelles to airframe surface panels and substructure. The figure illustrates how HyperSizer imports a FEM and manages all data associated with a configuration. Wing spars and ribs can consider a range of materials and panel concepts that are different than the subset of user determined design options for the wing skins and fuselage body. HyperSizer also analyses and optimizes internal beams such as spar caps and many other open and closed shapes. A primary foundational capability of HyperSizer is to accurately analyze any panel concept without the need to discretely mesh with finite elements the shape of the stiffeners or their spacing. This permits tremendous flexibility and rapid turn around of trades with different panel concepts all from the same coarsely meshed FEM.