Drag Reduction of a 2D Airfoil with Constraints on Lift and Pressure Distribution using Adjoint Approach

Abstract

The paper presents an alternative way to minimize the target pressure residual over parts where laminar flow should occur - typically some percent of the upper and lower front parts – and to perform a classical drag minimization at target lift and pitching moment at the same time. This approach allows 1) to ensure that the final geometry satisfies the target aerodynamic performance 2) to design a laminar profile with a low wave drag, without the use of laminar transition criteria in the optimization process.