Parameterization and optimization of hypersonic-gliding vehicle configurations during conceptual design

Three-dimensional class/shape function transformation (CST) approach is an analytical method, and it can define the geometrical shapes by a small number of parameters and it is refined to enhance the parametric ability in this study. The interface between the upper and lower surfaces is considered by introducing additional parametric items, and it will be no longer a flat plane. The inviscid engineering methods based on modified Newton theory and Prandtl–Meyer equation are employed to estimate the Hypersonic gliding vehicle's aerodynamic properties. The accuracies of these methods are also validated. In order to obtain vehicles with high lift-to-drag ratio as well as large volumetric efficiency, multi-objective optimization algorithm, NSGA-II, has been utilized. The obtained result shows that the Pareto front of the multi-objective problem based on the refined three-dimensional CST method is in front of the Pareto front based on the original three-dimensional CST method, and this implies that the refined method can find configurations with better performance than the original one. One of the configurations on the Pareto front has been analyzed, and its aerodynamic performance has been studied by both panel method and the CFD method. The results show that the obtained configuration owns outstanding aerodynamic properties.