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Robust Airfoil Optimization and the Importance of Appropriately Representing Uncertainty

cam.issuedOnline2017-08-01
datacite.issupplementedby.doi10.17863/CAM.10922
dc.contributor.authorCook, LW
dc.contributor.authorJarrett, JP
dc.contributor.orcidCook, Laurence [0000-0002-0033-1657]
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-24T13:05:53Z
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-13T15:35:30Z
dc.date.available2017-05-24T13:05:53Z
dc.date.available2018-11-13T15:35:30Z
dc.date.issued2017-11
dc.description.abstractThe importance of designing airfoils to be robust with respect to uncertainties in operating conditions is well recognized. However, often, the probability distribution of such uncertainties does not exist or is unknown, and a designer looking to perform a robust optimization is tasked with deciding how to represent these uncertainties within the optimization framework. This paper asks the following: “How important is the choice of how to represent input uncertainties mathematically in robust airfoil optimization?” It specifically compares probabilistically based aleatory uncertainties and interval-based epistemic uncertainties. This is first investigated by considering optimizations on several algebraic test problems, which illustrate the mechanisms by which the representation of uncertainty becomes significant in a robust optimization. This insight is then used to predict and subsequently demonstrate that, for two airfoil design problems, the advantage of doing a robust optimization over a deterministic optimization is similar, regardless of how the input uncertainties are represented mathematically. The benefit of this is potentially eliminating the time required to establish an accurate representation of the uncertainties from the preliminary stage of design, where time is a valuable resource.
dc.description.sponsorshipEPSRC
dc.identifier.doi10.17863/CAM.32381
dc.identifier.eissn1533-385X
dc.identifier.issn0001-1452
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/285010
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
dc.publisher.urlhttp://dx.doi.org/10.2514/1.j055459
dc.relation.replaceshttps://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/264397
dc.relation.replaces1810/264397
dc.subject4012 Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering
dc.subject40 Engineering
dc.subject4001 Aerospace Engineering
dc.titleRobust Airfoil Optimization and the Importance of Appropriately Representing Uncertainty
dc.typeArticle
dcterms.dateAccepted2017-05-10
prism.endingPage3939
prism.issueIdentifier11
prism.publicationDate2017
prism.publicationNameAIAA Journal
prism.startingPage3925
prism.volume55
pubs.funder-project-idEPSRC (1476418)
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate2017-11
rioxxterms.licenseref.urihttp://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Review
rioxxterms.versionAM
rioxxterms.versionofrecord10.2514/1.J055459

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