Numerical Aerodynamic Optimization Study for a Supersonic Aircraft

The DLR aerodynamic optimization system MODeM is introduced. Up to now most optimization work of supersonic configurations concentrate on the aircraft‘s wing. To be able to improve supersonic aircraft even further, DLR aims with this work also to optimize the fuselage of supersonic aircraft. Numerical accuracy of Euler flow solutions in supersonics are investigated by mesh density variations to minimize computational effort with known accuracy. Sensitivities of fuselage design parameters are given. A generic supersonic aircraft is constructed by combining an optimized wing with a generic fuselage. The most sensitive fuselage design parameters are selected to optimize this aircraft aerodynamically. The inviscid optimized geometry is recalculated with DLR‘s Navier-Stokes method. The aircraft‘s shape and off-design behaviour is confirmed with the viscous method.