Global aerodynamic design optimization based on data dimensionality reduction

In aerodynamic optimization, global optimization methods such as genetic algorithms are preferred in many cases because of their advantage on reaching global optimum. However, for complex problems in which large number of design variables are needed, the computational cost becomes prohibitive, and thus original global optimization strategies are required. To address this need, data dimensionality reduction method is combined with global optimization methods, thus forming a new global optimization system, aiming to improve the efficiency of conventional global optimization. The new optimization system involves applying Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) in dimensionality reduction of design space while maintaining the generality of original design space. Besides, an acceleration approach for samples calculation in surrogate modeling is applied to reduce the computational time while providing sufficient accuracy. The optimizations of a transonic airfoil RAE2822 and the transonic wing ONERA M6 are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed new optimization system. In both cases, we manage to reduce the number of design variables from 20 to 10 and from 42 to 20 respectively. The new design optimization system converges faster and it takes 1/3 of the total time of traditional optimization to converge to a better design, thus significantly reducing the overall optimization time and improving the efficiency of conventional global design optimization method.