Parameterized Geometries for Configuration Adaptation

Abstract

The discipline of geometry has been found to be an indispensible partner of computational analysis, design and optimization in aerodynamics, especially in the regime of transonic flow: Here the fine details of the surface, influencing smoothness of the curvature count in successfully arriving at a flow quality ensuring improved aerodynamic efficiency. To this goal, airfoils of the PARSEC family are proposed as a suitable aerodynamic input for a large variety of 2D and 3D wing design tasks, additional tools based on simple functions will help to generate complete configurations. Unsteady transonic flow control by tuned active surfaces finds applications in helicopter blade design by sealed slats and flaps avoiding the occurrence of dynamic stall. Generalizations of the active surfaces concept help to generate large sets of shape variations as required for optimization with genetic algorithms or other modern and accelerated strategies.