Single and multipoint aerodynamic optimizations of a supersonic transport aircraft wing using optimization strategies involving adjoint method and genetic algorithm

This paper presents an application of automated aerodynamic optimization to the design of a supersonic transport aircraft wing-body configuration. An optimization framework has been developed that allows to optimize the wing shape of the aircraft with the objective to achieve the best compromise between aerodynamic performance over the different flight conditions the aircraft will have to fly at during a typical mission. This optimization framework has then been applied to optimize the wing shape for the two major flight points of such a mission, respectively the supersonic cruise and the transonic cruise. In this approach the aerodynamic performance are determined by solving the three dimensional compressible Euler equations. The optimization strategy applied to address this problem is based on the use of both stochastic optimization algorithms and gradient technique with gradient information obtained by solving the Euler adjoint equations.