Genetic algorithms applied to the aerodynamic design of transonic airfoils

Introduction T HIS work focuses on the application of genetic algorithms to the design of shockless transonic airfoils. The genetic algorithm selects a number of airfoils from a population by means of the fitness function related to the airfoil performance, and then it applies a mixture of crossover and random mutation operators over the selected individuals to generate a new population. The process is iterated until convergence criteria are met. Genetic algorithms offer an effective answer to complex optimization problems as they are able to effectively explore a very large space of potential solutions. Successful applications to complex design problems in the aerospace field can be found in Refs. 1-3.