Multi-stage aerodynamic design of multi-body geometries by Kriging-based models and adjoint variable approach

An efficient and high-fidelity design approach for wing-body shape optimization is presented. Depending on the size of design space and the number of design of variable, aerodynamic shape optimization process is carried out via different optimization strategies at each design stage. In the first stage, global optimization techniques are applied to planform design with a few geometric design variables. In the second stage, local optimization techniques are used for wing surface design with a lot of design variables to maintain a sufficient design space with a high DOF (Degree of Freedom) geometric change. For global optimization, Kriging method in conjunction with Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used. A searching algorithm of EI (Expected Improvement) points is introduced to enhance the quality of global optimization for the wing-planform design. For local optimization, a discrete adjoint method is adopted. By the successive combination of global and local optimization techniques, drag minimization is performed for a multi-body aircraft configuration while maintaining the baseline lift and the wing weight at the same time. Through the design process, performances of the test models are remarkably improved in comparison with the single stage design approach. The performance of the proposed design framework including wing planform design variables can be efficiently evaluated by the drag decomposition method, which can examine the improvement of various drag components, such as induced drag, wave drag, viscous drag and profile drag.