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Industrial optimal design using adjoint CFD

Objective

Adjoint-based methods have become the most interesting approach in numerical optimisation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) due to their low computational cost compared to other approaches. The development of adjoint solvers has seen significant research interest, and a number of EC projects have been funded on adjoint-based optimisation. In particular, partners of this proposal are members of the EC FP7 projects FlowHead and AboutFlow which develops complete adjoint-based design methods for steady-state and unsteady flows in industrial design.

Two related bottlenecks of applying goal-based optimisation in CFD are addressed here a) the efficient but flexible and automatic parametrisation of arbitrary shapes, and b) the imposition of design constraints.

Parametrisation is at the core of optimisation, it defines the design space that the optimising algorithm is exploring. A range of parametrisations will be developed in the project, ranging from simple CAD-free methods with rich design spaces to CAD-based methods that return the optimised shape in CAD form.
Integration of the currently available shape and topology modification approaches with the gradient-based optimisation approach will be addressed, in particular development of interfaces to return optimised CAD-free shapes into CAD for further design and analysis, an aspect that currently requires manual interpretation by an expert user.

Constraints are at the core of industrial design, e.g. an optimised climate ducts for a vehicle needs to fit into the available build space. The project will develop efficient ways to extract constraints specified in the CAD model and apply them to CAD-free parametrisations. Methods will be developed to quantify how much the limited design space impairs the optimum and then to adaptively refine it.

The results of the project will be applied to realistic mid-size and large-scale industrial optimisation problems supplied by the industrial project partners ranging from

Coordinator

QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Net EU contribution
€ 819 863,64
Address
327 Mile End Road
E1 4NS London
United Kingdom

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Region
London Inner London — East Tower Hamlets
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00

Participants (9)

ENGYS SRL
Italy
Net EU contribution
€ 516 122,64
Address
Via Del Follatoio 12
34147 Trieste

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Nord-Est Friuli-Venezia Giulia Trieste
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00
ESI GERMANY GMBH
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 249 216,48
Address
Liebknechtstr. 33
70565 Stuttgart

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Region
Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart Stuttgart, Stadtkreis
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00
ETHNICON METSOVION POLYTECHNION
Greece
Net EU contribution
€ 484 773,84
Address
Heroon Polytechniou 9 Zographou Campus
157 80 Athina

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Region
Κεντρικός Τομέας Αθηνών Aττική Αττική
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
OPEN CASCADE
France
Net EU contribution
€ 262 875,60
Address
1 Place Des Freres Montgolfier
78280 Guyancourt

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Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Yvelines
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00
THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST
United Kingdom
Net EU contribution
€ 273 287,88
Address
University Road Lanyon Building
BT7 1NN Belfast

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Region
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Belfast
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
ROLLS-ROYCE DEUTSCHLAND LTD & CO KG
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 249 216,48
Address
Eschenweg 11
15827 Blankenfelde-mahlow

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Region
Brandenburg Brandenburg Teltow-Fläming
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00
UNIVERSITAET PADERBORN
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 249 216,48
Address
Warburger Strasse 100
33098 Paderborn

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Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Detmold Paderborn
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
VON KARMAN INSTITUTE FOR FLUID DYNAMICS
Belgium
Net EU contribution
€ 501 120,00
Address
Waterloose Steenweg, 72
1640 Sint-genesius-rode

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Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Halle-Vilvoorde
Activity type
Research Organisations
Other funding
€ 0,00
VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 249 216,48
Address
Berliner Ring 2
38440 Wolfsburg

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Region
Niedersachsen Braunschweig Wolfsburg, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00