A discrete semianalytical procedure for aerodynamic sensitivity analysis including grid sensitivity

A discrete semianalytical sensitivity analysis procedure has been developed for calculating aerodynamic design sensitivities. The sensitivities are numerically calculated using direct differentiation of the discretized flow equations. A new approach has been developed and employed to calculate the sensitivities of the discretized grid, which are integral to the calculation of the aerodynamic sensitivities. Representative results from the grid sensitivity analysis and semianalytical sensitivity analysis procedures are compared with those obtained from the finite difference approach to establish their efficiency and accuracy. The developed procedures offer significant savings in computing time over the finite difference approach, thus allowing the use of comprehensive analysis procedures in design optimization.