IMPROVEMENT OF VORTEX GENERATOR SOURCE MODEL FOR ADJOINT-BASED DESIGN OPTIMIZATION

Abstract

The present paper deals with a vortex generator source model for the adjoint-based design optimization. To efficiently design the vortex generator inside an S-shaped subsonic inlet, the vortex generator source model is employed instead of the fully gridded vortex generator. The previously developed original source model, however, does not reflect a small change in position and thus has difficulties in differentiation for sensitivity analysis. For this reason, the original source model is modified into a differentiable source model. Through the differentiable source model, a large number of design variables including vortex generator position can be treated with an adjoint variable method. After the optimization with the design variables of the chord length, height, angle of incidence, axial and circumferential positions of each vortex generator, the performance of the target inlet is remarkably improved, showing that the distortion coefficient well over 70% while maintaining the total pressure recovery ratio.