Effect of fluid-thermal-structural interactions on the topology optimization of a hypersonic transport aircraft wing

Aerothermoelasticity plays a vital role in the design of hypersonic aircraft as the coupling between the thermodynamics, aerodynamics and structural dynamics cannot be ignored. While topology optimization has been used in the design of aircraft components, thus far, existing optimization algorithms lack the capability to include aerothermodynamic coupling effects. This article presents an original evolutionary structural topology optimization algorithm that includes hypersonic aerothermoelastic effects. The time-varying temperature distribution is applied through a conjugate heat transfer analysis integrated in time by an unsteady conduction solver, and is coupled to the aerodynamics, which is calculated by a supersonic vortex lattice method. This article analyses the effect of fluid-thermal-structural interactions on the optimization of a hypersonic transport aircraft wing, by optimizing the wing structure with various degrees of coupling. The coupling of the aerothermodynamics drives the optimization of the structural design and therefore must be considered for hypersonic applications. This new optimization algorithm allows the coupling of the aerothermodynamics to be considered in the early stages of the design, potentially avoiding a costly re-design.