Numerical optimization design of advanced transonic wing configurationsA computationally efficient and versatile technique for use in the design of advanced transonic wing configurations has been developed. A reliable and fast transonic wing flow-field analysis program, TWING, has been coupled with a modified quasi-Newton method, unconstrained optimization algorithm, QNMDIF, to create a new design tool. Fully three-dimensional wing designs utilizing both specified wing pressure disributions and drag-to-lift ratio minimization as design objectives are demonstrated. Because of the high computational efficiency of each of the components of the design code, in particular the vectorization of TWING and the high speed of the Cray X-MP vector computer, the computer time required for a typical wing design is reduced by approximately an order of magnitude over previous methods. In the results presented here, this computed wave drag has been used as the quantity to be optimized (minimized) with great success, yielding wing designs with nearly shock-free (zero wave drag) pressure distributions and very reasonable wing section shapes.
Document ID
19850037588
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Cosentino, G. B. (General Dynamics Corp., Convair Div., San Diego, CA; Colorado, University Boulder, CO, United States)
Holst, T. L. (NASA Ames Research Center Applied Computational Aerodynamics Branch, Moffett Field, CA, United States)