Darshan Sarojini Email and Phone Number

Coordinated the integration work of 6 organizations, 10 investigators, and ~30 students on a project funded as part of a NASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) project for advancing urban air mobility (UAM) using multidisciplinary optimization (MDO)Headed the development of the first version of a python-based open-source air vehicle design framework: CADDEE- CADDEE can import the OML from OpenVSP and uses free-form deformation (FFD) to parametrically change the geometry and… Show more Coordinated the integration work of 6 organizations, 10 investigators, and ~30 students on a project funded as part of a NASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) project for advancing urban air mobility (UAM) using multidisciplinary optimization (MDO)Headed the development of the first version of a python-based open-source air vehicle design framework: CADDEE- CADDEE can import the OML from OpenVSP and uses free-form deformation (FFD) to parametrically change the geometry and propagate meshes to physics-based solvers- CADDEE uses 6 DoF EoM to 1) trim the aircraft at nominal and off-nominal points of the mission, 2) perform steady, stability, and time-domain analysis, and 3) evaluate the performance of the aircraft- CADDEE uses computational graphs to automate derivative computations for gradient-based optimization- First-of-its-kind demonstration of conceptual design of a lift-plus-cruise concept with ~100 design variables, and ~20 constraints in < 30 minutes, resulting in an 11.7% decrease in the mass of the aircraftRigorous V&V of varying fidelity physics-based models: aerodynamics (VLM, VPM), propulsion (BEMT), structures (beam and shell), motor & powertrain (MEC), noise (semi-empirical), and battery (ECM) relevant to UAM concepts in collaboration with Aurora Flight Sciences and NASA Ames Research Center. Show less

Certification-driven design methodology- Developed a framework to consider 14-CFR SubPart B Flight Characteristics and SubPart C Structures constraints during multi-objective optimization- Applied to the retrofit design of the horizontal tail of the B777 and the vertical tail of the PEGASUS concept- Results showed that level 1 handling quality constraints significant influence the designSafety and reliability modeling of novel aircraft concepts- Modeled the X-57… Show more Certification-driven design methodology- Developed a framework to consider 14-CFR SubPart B Flight Characteristics and SubPart C Structures constraints during multi-objective optimization- Applied to the retrofit design of the horizontal tail of the B777 and the vertical tail of the PEGASUS concept- Results showed that level 1 handling quality constraints significant influence the designSafety and reliability modeling of novel aircraft concepts- Modeled the X-57 distributed electric propulsion concept- System-level performance assessment- Functional hazard assessment to obtain component-level reliability metrics of the powertrain systemReduced order modeling- Demonstrated efficient structural analysis using a data-driven multi-fidelity reduced order model - 80% improvement in accuracy when compared to a single-fidelity ROM trained with a similar computational budgetAircraft life cycle techno-economic impact analysis of novel aircraft concepts: - High-fidelity aeroelastic modeling, mission analysis, noise and emission analysis - Truss-braced wing, open-rotor, and blended-wing body concepts- Project sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center Show less

Structural weight estimation of wing primary structure of novel aircraft concepts- Developed a framework for structural analysis in Nastran (SOL 101, 103, 144, 145, 146) and Hypersizer to obtain the structural weight of composite stiffened structures of the PEGASUS and Truss-Braced Wing concepts- Project sponsored by NASA Langley Research CenterPh.D. Thesis: Structural analysis and optimization of aircraft wings through dimensional reduction- Developed a reduced order model… Show more Structural weight estimation of wing primary structure of novel aircraft concepts- Developed a framework for structural analysis in Nastran (SOL 101, 103, 144, 145, 146) and Hypersizer to obtain the structural weight of composite stiffened structures of the PEGASUS and Truss-Braced Wing concepts- Project sponsored by NASA Langley Research CenterPh.D. Thesis: Structural analysis and optimization of aircraft wings through dimensional reduction- Developed a reduced order model using the Variational Asymptotic Method (VAM) for efficient structural analysis of aircraft wingboxes- Derived an unsteady adjoint to obtain the gradient of strength failure criteria when the wing is subjected to gust loads- 7.8x computational speed-up compared to state-of-the-art shell modelsModel-based Systems Engineering (MBSE)- Overall aircraft design using MBSE and MDO integration to reduce the design cycle time of large transport category aircraft - Developed a multi-level aircraft-wing-control surface problem to showcase MBSE-MDO integration, enabling design space exploration and supporting decision making- Project sponsored by Airbus Flight Physics, Toulouse, France Show less

- Developed a six DoF flight simulator considering aeroelasticity in MATLAB and Simulink to obtain dynamic loads from 14-CFR specified maneuver (project sponsored by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation)- Conducted research about the Digital Thread concept and how to implement it in the structural design of aircraft ribs (project sponsored by Airbus Americas Engineering)

- Derivation and implementation (in StarCCM+'s Java API) of an algorithm for a fluid-thermal topology optimization problem using Brinkman penalization- The method enabled topology optimization of a new class of problems: `dual-flow' problems for turbine blade cooling

At the Multiscale MultiDisciplinary Device and Design (M2D2) Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Prof. G.K.Ananthasuresh. In an effort to ease the pain of people suffering from arthritis, a sit-to-stand easy chair is designed where a small force applied on the armrest can gently propel and ease the occupant rising from it using compliant bistable mechanisms.Kinetostatic model developed to capture behaviour of the bistable mechanism; and combined with… Show more At the Multiscale MultiDisciplinary Device and Design (M2D2) Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Prof. G.K.Ananthasuresh. In an effort to ease the pain of people suffering from arthritis, a sit-to-stand easy chair is designed where a small force applied on the armrest can gently propel and ease the occupant rising from it using compliant bistable mechanisms.Kinetostatic model developed to capture behaviour of the bistable mechanism; and combined with static balancing to enable adjustment for weights of different occupants and to reduce jerky motion.Kinetostatic model developed to capture "bimodal" behavior of bistable mechanisms. High speed photography used to validate bimodality. Post-buckling analysis used to derive analytical method of finding force-displacement relation; which is used to iteratively find the optimum profile of the bistable mechanism having maximum travel and lower switching force. Show less

NMCAD Lab, Aerospace Engineering Deptartment, IISc under Dr. Dineshkumar HarursampathWrote a script which sequentially solves structural domain Variational Asymptotic Method solver and fluid domain using HiFUN software (dynamic time accurate FVM with moving mesh ALE algorithm) Used to generate pressure distribution contours for a given predetermined trajectory of a 1D curvilinear reference curve attached with an elastic thin membrane which is subject to deformation due to… Show more NMCAD Lab, Aerospace Engineering Deptartment, IISc under Dr. Dineshkumar HarursampathWrote a script which sequentially solves structural domain Variational Asymptotic Method solver and fluid domain using HiFUN software (dynamic time accurate FVM with moving mesh ALE algorithm) Used to generate pressure distribution contours for a given predetermined trajectory of a 1D curvilinear reference curve attached with an elastic thin membrane which is subject to deformation due to aerodynamic loads. Show less