Aeroelastic tailoring and scaling using Bacterial Foraging Optimisation

Abstract

Bacterial Foraging Optimisation (BFO) is investigated in an attempt to evaluate its use in solving complex optimisation problems for aeronautical structures. A hybrid variant of BFOA, which incorporates meta-modelling techniques, is also proposed and employed. The efficiency and effectiveness of the methods are tested for tailoring a rectangular composite wing, aiming to maximise the flutter speed and for scaling a joined-wing aircraft, targeting to match aeroelastic responses between the physical prototype and wind tunnel model. The obtained results are compared with those found using a range of other biologically inspired optimisation methods (GA, PSO, ACO), proving that the social foraging behavior of motile bacteria is an effective tool for aeroelastic optimisation.