Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was coated on 316L stainless steel (SS) substrate through a spin coating technique to enhance its corrosion resistance properties in hydrochloric acid (HCl) and nitric acid (HNO₃) medium. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the morphology of the coated and uncoated substrates and showed a uniform and crack-free PTFE coating on 316L SS substrate, while a damaged surface with thick corrosive layers was observed after the electrochemical test on the uncoated sample. However, an increased concentration of HCl and HNO₃ slightly affected the surface morphology by covering the corrosive pits. An atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that the average surface roughness on 316L SS and PTFE coating was 26.3 nm and 24.1 nm, respectively. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used for the compositional analysis, which confirmed the presence of PTFE coating. The micro Vickers hardness test was used to estimate the hardness of 316L SS and PTFE-coated substrate, while the scratch test was used to study the adhesion properties of PTFE coating on 316L SS. The anticorrosion measurements of 316L SS and PTFE-coated substrates were made in various HCl and HNO₃ solutions by using the electrochemical corrosion test. A comparison of the corrosion performance of PTFE-coated substrate with that of bare 316L SS substrate in HCl medium showed a protection efficiency (PE) of 96.7%, and in the case of HNO₃ medium, the PE was 99.02%, by slightly shifting the corrosion potential of the coated sample towards the anodic direction.

This article proposes a multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO) strategy for the conceptual design of a multistage ground-based interceptor (GBI) using hybrid optimization algorithm,which associates genetic algorithm (GA) as a global optimizer with sequential quadratic programming (SQP) as a local optimizer.The interceptor is comprised of a three-stage solid propulsion system for an exoatmospheric boost phase intercept (BPI).The interceptor's duty is to deliver a kinetic kill vehicle (KKV) to the optimal position in space to accomplish the mission of intercept.The modules for propulsion,aerodynamics,mass properties and flight dynamics are integrated to produce a high fidelity model of the entire vehicle.The propulsion module comprises of solid rocket motor (SRM) grain design,nozzle geometry design and performance prediction analysis.Internal ballistics and performance prediction parameters are calculated by using lumped parameter method.The design objective is to minimize the gross lift off mass (GLOM) of the interceptor under the mission constraints and performance objectives.The proposed design and optimization methodology provide designers with an efficient and powerful approach in computation during designing interceptor systems.

Satellite launch vehicle lies at the cross-road of multiple challenging technologies and its design and optimization present a typical example of multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO) process. The complexity of problem demands highly efficient and effective algorithm that can optimize the design. Hyper heuristic approach (HHA) based on meta-heuristics is applied to the optimization of air launched satellite launch vehicle (ASLV). A non-learning random function (NLRF) is proposed to control low-level meta-heuristics (LLMHs) that increases certainty of global solution, an essential ingredient required in product conceptual design phase of aerospace systems. Comprehensive empirical study is performed to evaluate the performance advantages of proposed approach over popular non-gradient based optimization methods. Design of ASLV encompasses aerodynamics, propulsion, structure, stages layout, mass distribution, and trajectory modules connected by multidisciplinary feasible design approach. This approach formulates explicit system-level goals and then forwards the design optimization process entirely over to optimizer. This distinctive approach for launch vehicle system design relieves engineers from tedious, iterative task and enables them to improve their component level models. Mass is an impetus on vehicle performance and cost, and so it is considered as the core of vehicle design process. Therefore, gross launch mass is to be minimized in HHA

Vibrations are usually induced in aero engines under their normal operating conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the critical frequencies of the rotating components carefully. Blade deformation of a jet engine under its normal operating conditions due to fatigue or bird strike is a realistic possibility. This puts the deformed blade as one of the major safety concerns in commercially operating civil aviation. A bird strike introduces unbalanced forces and non-linearities into the engine rotor system. Such dynamic behavior is a primary cause of catastrophic failures. The introduction of unbalanced forces due to a deformed blade, as a result of a bird strike, can change the critical frequency behavior of engine rotor systems. Therefore, it is necessary to predict their critical frequencies and dynamic behavior carefully. The simplified approach of the one-dimensional and two-dimensional elements can be used to predict critical frequencies and critical mode shapes in many cases, but the use of three-dimensional elements is the best method to achieve the goals of a modal analysis. This research explores the effect of a bird strike on the critical frequencies of an engine rotor. The changes in critical mode shapes and critical frequencies as a result of a bird strike on an engine blade are studied in this research. Commercially available analysis software ANSYS version 18.2 is used in this study. In order to account for the material nonlinearities, a Johnson Cook material model is used for the fan blades and an isotropic–elastic–plastic–hydrodynamic material model is used for modeling the bird. The bird strike event is analyzed using Eularian and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) techniques. A difference of 0.1% is noted in the results of both techniques. In the modal analysis simulation of the engine rotor before and after the bird strike event, the critical failure modes remain same. However, a change in the critical frequencies of the modes is observed. An increase in the critical frequencies and excitation RPMs (revolution per minute) of each mode are observed. As the mode order is increased, the higher the rise in critical frequency and excitation RPMs. Also, a change in the whirl direction of the different modes is noted.