A new engineering environment constructed for the purposes of analyzing and designing Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) is presented. The new environment has been developed to allow NASA to perform independent analysis and design of emerging RLV architectures and technologies. The new Advanced Engineering Environment (AEE) is both collaborative and distributed. It facilitates integration of the analyses by both vehicle performance disciplines and life-cycle disciplines. Current performance disciplines supported include: weights and sizing, aerodynamics, trajectories, propulsion, structural loads, and CAD-based geometries. Current life-cycle disciplines supported include: DDT&E cost, production costs, operations costs, flight rates, safety and reliability, and system economics. Involving six NASA centers (ARC, LaRC, MSFC, KSC, GRC and JSC), AEE has been tailored to serve as a webaccessed agency-wide source for all of NASA' s future launch vehicle systems engineering functions. Thus, it is configured to facilitate (a) data management, (b) automated tooYprocess integration and execution, and (c) data visualization and presentation. The core components of the integrated framework are a customized PTC Windchill product data management server, a set of RLV analysis and design tools integrated using Phoenix Integration's Model Center, and an =-based data capture and transfer protocol. The AEE system has seen production use during the Initial Architecture and Technology Review for the NASA 2" Generation RLV program, and it continues to undergo development and enhancements in support of its current main customer, the NASA Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT)program.
An integrated, distributed engineering environment being used to analyze and design Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) is presented. A foundation for the development of this environment is established through the presentation of a history of the project and the motivations for its continued development. It facilitates integration of the analysis tools employed by both vehicle performance disciplines and life-cycle disciplines.Current performance disciplines supported include: weights and sizing, aerodynamics, trajectories, propulsion, structural loads, and CAD-based geometries. Current life-cycle disciplines supported include: DDT&E cost, production costs, operations costs, turn around times, safety and reliability, and system economics. Involving six NASA centers (ARC, LaRC, MSFC, KSC, GRC and JSC), the Advanced Engineering Environment has been tailored to serve as a web-accessed agency-wide source for all of NASA's future launch vehicle systems engineering functions. Thus, it is configured to facilitate (a) data management, (b) automated tool/process integration, execution and management, and (c) data visualization and presentation. The core components of the integrated framework are a customized PTC Windchill product data management server, a set of RLV analysis and design tools integrated using Phoenix Integration's Model Center, and an XML-based data capture and transfer protocol.
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