Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to provide a numerical procedure developed to obtain the best design (in terms of weight and requirement fulfillment) for a structural component subjected to a launcher environment. The component analyzed represents the support used to mount the SAD/S and DBAT equipment into the VEGA C launcher Interstage 2/3. The final design is obtained by means of an optimization process which aims to satisfy the environmental requirements prescribed by the Vega General Specifications. The developed procedure is based on generation of a fully parametric FE model that is able to switch between ANSYS and NASTRAN software. This routine allows us to execute a topometry optimization with Nastran (by using a 2D model) and to generate a full 3D model (which represents the best compromise among structural performance, manufacturing cost and weight) with Ansys. The final design shows a weight reduction about 50% with respect to the initial provided model.
