Aerodynamic design of high-aspect-ratio flying wing based on criteria

To improve aerodynamic performance of flying wing from design reality, aerodynamic design and analysis of high-aspect-ratio flying wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were conducted. In design and analysis process, according to features of flying wing, aerodynamic design criteria have been proposed. Based on design criteria, a design optimization framework, using updated design strategies, was built which combined variable fidelity numerical simulation and surrogated model optimization method. Flying wing UAV was carried out with parametric expression, automatic mesh generation of transfinite interpolation (TFI), and multi-round optimization. And then recommended configuration was obtained and validated for detailed aerodynamic performance by γ-Re_θt transition model method. The results show that design configuration of flying wing UAV agrees well with design criteria, cruise lift-to-drag ratio of UAV increases 14% compared to the original configuration, γ-Re_θt transition model method can analyze the detailed aerodynamic characteristics of high-aspect-ratio flying wing UAV.