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Sensitivity Computations for Optimal Design and Control of Systems Governed by Partial Differential Equations
Probability| Speaker: | John A. Burns, Center for Optimal Design and Control, Virginia Tech |
| Location: | 693 Kerr |
| Start time: | Mon, Jan 10 2000, 2:10PM |
Description
Many modern aerospace design problems can be viewed as distributed
parameter variational and optimal control problems. In 1686, Newton
proposed the famous problem of determining the body of revolution that
produces a minimum drag nose shape in a hypersonic flow. Modern versions
of such design challenges lead to complex shape optimization problems. In
this presentation, the speaker will discuss an optimal control approach to
design and illustrate how this approach can provide theoretical and
computational insight into algorithm development. The goal
is to show that introducing approximations at the proper time in
algorithm development can lead to optimal design tools that are fast,
accurate and often easy to implement by modifying existing simulation
tools.
The speaker will use a application involving the control and optimization
of thin film growth to motivate the basic problem. A simple nonlinear
inverse problem will be used to describe various numerical algorithms
based on sensitivity equation methods. These algorithms are then used to
demonstrate the central ideas. Finally, he will close with an application
to a scramjet design problem and present other examples to illustrate how
these methods are already being included in new commercial software
products.
This research project is part of the AFOSR PRET Center activities funded
under grant F49620-96-1-0329.