On multifunctional collaborative methods in engineering science

Engineers are challenged to produce better designs in less time and for less cost. Hence, to investigate novel and revolutionary design concepts, accurate, high-fidelity data must be assimilated rapidly into the design, analysis and simulation process. This data assimilation should consider diverse mathematical modeling and multi-discipline interactions necessitated by concepts exploiting advanced materials and structures. Integrated high-fidelity methods with diverse engineering applications provide the enabling technologies to assimilate these high-fidelity, multi-disciplinary data rapidly at an early stage in the design. These integrated methods must be multifunctional, collaborative and applicable to the general field of engineering science and mechanics.; Multifunctional methodologies and analysis procedures are formulated for interfacing diverse domain idealizations including multi-fidelity modeling methods and multi-discipline analysis methods. These methods, based on the method of weighted residuals, ensure accurate compatibility of primary and secondary variables across the domain interfaces. Methods are developed for scalar-field and vector-field problems in engineering science with extensions to multidisciplinary problems. Results are presented for the scalar- and vector-field developments using example patch test problems. In addition, results for torsion, thermal, and potential flow problems are presented to demonstrate further the effectiveness of the scalar-field development. Results for plane stress and plane flow problems are presented for the vector-field development. Results for all problems presented are in overall good agreement with the exact analytical solution or the reference numerical solution.; The multifunctional methodology presented provides an effective mechanism by which domains with diverse idealizations are interfaced. This capability rapidly provides the high-fidelity data needed in the early design phase. Moreover, the capability is applicable to the general field of engineering science and mechanics. Hence, it provides a collaborative capability that accounts for interactions among engineering analysis methods.