Abstract A scalable, multidisciplinary framework approach is presented in this paper that allows for a flexible organization of nested solution algorithms in conjunction with the simulation ecosystem FlowSimulator . Special attention is given to a modular software integration of key simulation components called plugins such as the next-generation CFD software by ONERA, DLR and Airbus ( CODA ), the general-purpose finite-element structure-mechanics method b2000++ , an elasticity analogy CFD-mesh deformation approach together with energy-preserving mesh transfer methods for loads and deformations. A monolithic view on the complete multidisciplinary system is built combining the FlowSimulator ecosystem with the OpenMDAO framework. The strategy allows for strong quasi-monolithic multidisciplinary solution algorithms operating on the complete set of degrees of freedom in fully MPI-parallel execution. In Newton-type solution schemes, exact and efficient linearizations based on algorithmic differentiation (AD) of the nonlinear CFD software CODA are a key ingredient to an efficient and robust numerical solution. A numerical study is presented for an inviscid, static aeroelastic coupling scenario of reduced complexity using the AGARD 445.6 geometry. Different coupling intensities between the disciplines were considered to systematically study the efficiency and the robustness of the multidisciplinary solution approach. For strongly coupled cases, the preconditioned Newton–Krylov solver outperformed a straightforward nonlinear block-Gauss–Seidel algorithm and showed superlinear convergence.
Masilamani et al. (Wed,) studied this question.