SURROGATE-ASSISTED AERODYNAMIC DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF A GENERIC UCAV CONFIGURATION

Date

2026-4-08

Author

Gişi, İbrahim Berkalp

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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This study presents a surrogate-based optimization approach to improve the transonic cruise performance of a generic Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle configuration. The geometry is parametrically defined using four design variables, while the computational fluid dynamics methodology is verified through mesh convergence and reference data comparisons. Using this verified methodology, an aerodynamic database is generated, and three Kriging-based surrogate models are developed to predict lift, drag, and internal volume. Gradient-based optimization is then applied to minimize drag while maintaining the required cruise lift under two internal volume scenarios. The results show that preserving baseline volume achieves approximately a 1.5% drag reduction, while allowing a 5% internal volume reduction increases drag reduction to approximately 3.5%. These findings demonstrate the balance between internal volume requirements and aerodynamic efficiency in transonic design.

Subject Keywords

UCAV Aerodynamics, Surrogate-Based Optimization, Kriging Model, Transonic Aerodynamics, Aerodynamic Shape Optimization

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/119115

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis