Airfoil Design Optimization for Airplane for Mars Exploration

Aerodynamic design optimization of an airfoil for the Mars exploration airplane has been demonstrated by using an evolutionary algorithm. The adaptive range genetic algorithm is used for efficient and robust design optimization. Two-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver is used for accurate aerodynamic performance evaluation. The present computation is parallelized on the SX-6 vector computers in Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (ISAS) / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The optimized airfoil achieved very high aerodynamic performance. The optimum airfoil for Mars exploration airfoil has extremely thin airfoil thickness and strong camber while an optimum airfoil for typical airplane fly on Earth has substantial airfoil thickness in the front. However, a thin airfoil has disadvantages such as structural weight and fuel tank space (if an engine is used for propulsion). The present optimization indicates necessity of multiobjective design optimization for practical airfoil design for Mars exploration airplane.