Shape Optimization of a Multi-Element Foil Using an Evolutionary Algorithm

A movable flap with a NACA foil cross section serves as a common control surface for underwater marine vehicles. To augment the functionality of the control surface, a tab assisted control (TAC) surface was experimentally tested to improve its performance especially at large angles of operation. The advantage of the TAC foil could be further enhanced with shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators to control the rear portion of the control surface to form a flexible tab (or FlexTAC) surface. Hybrid unstructured Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations were used to understand the flow physics associated with the multi-element FlexTAC foil with a stabilizer, a flap, and a flexible tab. The prediction results were also compared with the measured data obtained from both the TAC and the FlexTAC experiments. The simulations help explain subtle differences in performance of the multi-element airfoil concepts. The RANS solutions also predict the forces and moments on the surface of the hydrofoil with reasonable accuracy and the RANS procedure is found to be critical for use in a design optimization framework because of the importance of flow separation/turbulent effects in the gap region between the stabilizer and the flap. A systematic optimization study was also carried out with a genetic algorithm (GA) based design optimization procedure. This procedure searches the complex design landscape in an efficient and parallel manner. The fitness evaluations in the optimization procedure were performed with the RANS based CFD simulations. The mesh regeneration was carried out in an automated manner through a scripting process within the grid generator. The optimization calculation is performed simultaneously on both the stabilizer and the nonflexible portion of the flap. Shape changes to the trailing edge of the stabilizer strongly influence the secondary flow patterns that set up in the gap region between the stabilizer and the flap. They were found to have a profound influence on force and moment characteristics of the multi-element airfoil. A new control surface (OptimTAC) was constructed as a result of the design optimization calculation and was shown to have improved lift, drag, and torque characteristics over the original FlexTAC airfoil at high flap angles.