Recognizing a critical need for a holistic approach to systems integration and multidisciplinary analysis and design optimization, volume editors Camberos and Moorhouse pioneered the application of a powerful scientific principle, the second law of thermodynamics, for aerospace engineering. ""Exergy Analysis and Design Optimization for Aerospace Vehicles and Systems"" illustrates how they applied this law to advance aerospace systems analysis and design optimization. They set forth a comprehensive research program incorporating: a systematic theoretical basis for constructing the proper formulas quantifying exergy balance; development of new computational capabilities for calculating exergy destruction; and, exploration of novel approaches for system-level design. To enable rational progress in this unorthodox aero-sciences domain, they developed a conceptual framework for constructing performance metrics across multiple disciplines to map work-potential losses as a common currency.Concepts discussed include: identification of the upper limits on engineering system performance using the second law of thermodynamics; design methodology integration with tools developed in CFD and MDA/MDO; application of exergy methods to all levels of flight vehicle design; and, future directions, including constructal theory, quantum thermodynamics, and numerical methods in light of the second law.
