Application of Numerical Optimization to the Design of Supercritical Airfoils without Drag-Creep
770440
02/01/1977
- Event
- Content
- Recent applications of numerical optimization to the design of advanced airfoils for transonic aircraft have shown that low-drag sections can be developed for a given design Mach number without an accompanying drag increase at lower Mach numbers. This is achieved by imposing a constraint on the drag coefficient at an off-design Mach number while the drag at the design Mach number is the objective function. Such a procedure doubles the computation time over that for single design-point problems, but the final result is worth the increased cost of computation. The ability to treat such multiple design-point problems by numerical optimization has been enhanced by the development of improved airfoil shape functions. Such functions permit a considerable increase in the range of profiles attainable during the optimization process.
- Pages
- 16
- Citation
- Hicks, R., and Vanderplaats, G., "Application of Numerical Optimization to the Design of Supercritical Airfoils without Drag-Creep," SAE Technical Paper 770440, 1977, https://doi.org/10.4271/770440.