Optimum aerodynamic design using CFD and control theory

This paper describes the implementation of optimization techniques based on control theory for airfoil and wing design. The theory is applied to a system defined by the partial differential equations of the flow, with control by the boundary as a free surface. The Frechet derivative of the cost function is determined via the solution of an adjoint partial differential equation, and the boundary shape is then modified in a direction of descent. This process is repeated until an optimum solution is approached. Each design cycle requires the numerical solution of both the flow and the adjoint equations, leading to a computational cost roughly equal to the cost of two flow solutions. The cost is kept low by using multigrid techniques, which yield a sufficiently accurate solution in about 15 iterations. Satisfactory designs are usually obtained with 10-20 design cycles.