An Improved Approach for Reducing the Dimensionality of Wing Aerodynamic Optimization Considering Longitudinal Stability

Abstract

The wing aerodynamic shape optimization is a typical high-dimensional problem with numerous independent design variables. Researching methods to reduce the dimensionality of optimization from the perspective of aerodynamic characteristics is necessary. One traditional aerodynamic-based approach decouples the wing’s camber and thickness according to the thin airfoil theory, but it has limitations due to unclear application scope and effectiveness. This paper proposes an improved approach that determines the values of certain thickness variables based on a data-driven aerodynamic characteristics model before optimization, which considers longitudinal stability. By reducing the number of design variables, the dimensionality of optimization is decreased effectively. The derivation of the improved approach is accomplished through the design of experiments, parametric modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and sensitivity analysis. The effectiveness of the improved approach is validated by applying it to the aerodynamic optimization of an ONERA-M6 wing in subsonic flow based on the surrogate-based optimization algorithm. The results demonstrate that the improved approach significantly accelerates the optimization process while maintaining global effectiveness.