Aeroelastic optimization of commercial aircraft considering high-precision aerodynamic performance

ifasd2024 Tracking Number 64

Traditional design methods tend to introduce the consideration of aeroelasticity effects on the aircraft late in the design process, leading to increased mechanical mass, reduced aerodynamic performance. Therefore, it is crucial to fully consider the effects of aeroelasticity during the preliminary design stage. The performance of the wing can be effectively improved by using the aeroelastic tailoring. The static aeroelastic analysis in this approach obtains aerodynamic forces by solving the linearized aerodynamic potential flow theory. However, it may not accurately calculate the drag of the wing. The use of high-precision aerodynamic calculation methods presents a problem of time-consuming calculation, which is difficult to apply in tailoring design. This paper proposes an aeroelastic optimization method that considers high-precision aerodynamic. The Euler equations are solved to obtain high-precision aerodynamic forces, and a viscous correction method is employed to improve the accuracy of drag results. To tackle the issue of low efficiency, aerodynamic force prediction is achieved through a Kriging surrogate model based on wing torsion angle and deflection. Next, the stiffness of the box section of a commercial aircraft wing is optimized. The optimization problem focuses on minimizing the structural mass of the wing by designing the thickness of the wing skin and web layup, as well as other variables. To obtain the global optimal solution, a genetic sensitivity hybrid algorithm is utilized. Aeroelastic constraints such as strength, deformation, and aileron efficiency are considered, and high-precision aerodynamic constraints are introduced to obtain the cruise profile with the optimal lift-to-drag ratio. The results indicate that the surrogate model has an error rate of only 0.32%, enabling efficient prediction of aerodynamic forces. Furthermore, the final wing configuration of the tailoring design reduces mass by 20 kg compared to the initial configuration while satisfying aeroelastic constraints, resulting in efficient aeroelastic optimization.