Aerodynamic data modeling using support vector machines

Aerodynamic data modeling plays an important role in aerospace and industrial fluid engineering. Support vector machines (SVMs), as a novel type of learning algorithms based on the statistical learning theory, can be used for regression problems and have been reported to perform well with promising results. The work presented here examines the feasibility of applying SVMs to the aerodynamic modeling field. Mainly, the empirical comparisons between the SVMs and the commonly used neural network technique are carried out through two practical data modeling cases – performance-prediction of a new prototype mixer for engine combustors, and calibration of a five-hole pressure probe. A CFD-based diffuser optimization design is also involved in the article, in which an SVM is used to construct a response surface and hereby to make the optimization perform on an easily computable surrogate space. The obtained simulation results in all the application cases demonstrate that SVMs are the potential options for the chosen modeling tasks.