This paper presents a survey of applications of design optimization to helicopter problems carried out in the last decade. Helicopter optimization has not yet reached the same maturity as structural optimization, and some potential reasons are discussed first. Next, published optimization studies are reviewed, divided into sensitivity analysis studies, applications to rotor dynamics and aeroelasticity, applications to other helicopter problems, emerging technologies such as genetic algorithms and simulated annealing, and studies with experimental verification. The usefulness of design optimization for helicopter applications will increase with the availability of improved analyses, more efficient algorithms especially for sensitivity calculations, and further experimental verifications. The formulation of representative optimization test problem, including experimental verification, is also recommended.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.