Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Given the fast-evolving context of electrical vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOL) based on the concept of tiltrotor aircraft, this work describes a framework aimed at the preliminary aerodynamic design and optimization of innovative lifting surfaces of such rotorcraft vehicles. In particular, a multiobjective optimization process was applied to the design of a wing extension representing an innovative feature recently investigated to improve the aerodynamic performance of a tiltrotor aircraft wing. The wing/proprotor configurations, selected using a Design Of Experiment (DOE) approach, were simulated by the mid-fidelity aerodynamic code DUST, which used a vortex-particle method (VPM) approach to model the wing/rotor wakes. A linear regression model accounting for nonlinear interactions was used by an evolutionary algorithm within a multiobjective optimization framework, which provided a set of Pareto-optimal solutions for the wing extension, maximizing both wing and rotor efficiency. Moreover, the present work highlighted how the use of a fast and reliable numerical modeling for aerodynamics, such as the VPM approach, enhanced the capabilities of an optimization framework aimed at achieving a more accurate preliminary design of innovative features for rotorcraft configurations while taking into account the effects of the aerodynamic interaction between wings and proprotors.
Source: Applied Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/app15179491
Author: Alberto Savino
Institution: Politecnico di Milano
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W4413825434