Concise Orthogonal Representation of Supercritical Airfoils

The combination of optimization algorithms and computational fluid dynamics offers promise for the development of improved aerodynamic designs. Optimization strategies have a common requirement for representation of geometry by a number of design parameters. For wing design the parameterization is generally separable into a representation of the planform and the representation of airfoil sections at a number of spanwise positions. The representation of airfoil sections is considered here with particular emphasis on the requirements of conceptual wing design.