Variable-fidelity multidisciplinary design optimization for innovative control surface of tailless aircraft

Abstract

In aircraft design, tailless aircraft is an attractive concept for their aerodynamic efficiency. However, a tailless configuration has disadvantages in stability and control (S&C) compared to conventional aircraft. To overcome the weakness, many types of control surface have been researched including the Innovative Control Effector (ICE). In this paper, control surfaces, all moving wingtip (AMT), and differential leading edge flap (DLEF), is optimized using efficient global optimization (EGO) method. For the EGO process, the concept of variable-fidelity (VF) Kriging analysis with dynamic fidelity indicator and multi-point multi-objective infill sampling criteria (MPMO-ISC) is applied. For variable-fidelity analysis, three aerodynamic analysis methods with different fidelity, panel method, Navier-Stokes method, and wind tunnel experiment, are used for the sampling. The optimization problem is formulated with standard requirements by Department of Defense.