Efficient optimization of integrated aerodynamic–structural design

Abstract

Abstract The introduction of composite materials is having a profound effect on the design process. Because these materials permit the designer to tailor material properties to improve structural, aerodynamic and acoustic performance, they require a more integrated multidisciplinary design process. Because of the complexity of the design process numerical optimization methods are required. The present paper is focused on a major difficulty associated with the multidisciplinary design optimization process—its enormous computational cost. We consider two approaches for reducing this computational burden: (i)development of efficient methods for cross‐sensitivity calculation using perturbation methods; and (ii) the use of approximate numerical optimization procedures. Our efforts are concentrated upon combined aerodynamic‐structural optimization. Results are presented for the integrated design of a sailplane wing. The impact of our computational procedures on the computational costs of integrated designs is discussed.