Comparison of various spring analogy related mesh deformation techniques in two-dimensional airfoil design optimization

Abstract

During the last few decades, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) has developed greatly and has become a more reliable tool for the conceptual phase of aircraft design. This tool is generally combined with an optimization algorithm. In the optimization phase, the need for regenerating the computational mesh might become cumbersome, especially when the number of design parameters is high. For this reason, several mesh generation and deformation techniques have been developed in the past decades. One of the most widely used techniques is the Spring Analogy. There are numerous spring analogy related techniques reported in the literature: linear spring analogy, torsional spring analogy, semitorsional spring analogy, and ball vertex spring analogy. This paper gives the explanation of linear spring analogy method and angle inclusion in the spring analogy method. In the latter case, two di¨erent solution methods are proposed. The best feasible method will later be used for two-dimensional (2D) Airfoil Design Optimization with objective function being to minimize sectional drag for a required lift coe©cient at di¨erent speeds. Design variables used in the optimization include camber and thickness distribution of the airfoil. SU2 CFD is chosen as the §ow solver during the optimization procedure. The optimization is done by using Phoenix ModelCenter Optimization Tool.