No abstract

This article presents an optimisation framework that uses stochastic multi-objective optimisation, combined with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and describes its application to the aerodynamic design of aircraft shapes. The framework uses the Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimisation (MOPSO) algorithm and the obtained results confirm that the proposed technique provides highly optimal solutions in less computational time than other approaches to the same design problem. The main idea was to focus computational effort on worthwhile design solutions rather than exploring and evaluating all possible solutions in the design space. It is shown that the number of valid solutions obtained using ANN-MOPSO compared to MOPSO for 3000 evaluations grew from 529 to 1006 (90% improvement) with a penalty of only 8.3% (11 min) in computational time. It is demonstrated that including an ANN, the ANN-MOPSO with 3000 evaluations produced a larger number of valid solutions than the MOPSO with 5500 evaluations, and in 33% less computational time (64 min). This is taken as confirmation of the potential power of ANNs when applied to this type of design problem.

In this work, an interactive optimisation framework—a combination of a low fidelity flow solver, Athena Vortex Lattice (AVL), and an interactive Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimisation (MOPSO)—is proposed for aerodynamic shape design optimisation of any aerial vehicle platform. This paper demonstrates the benefits of interactive optimisation—reduction of computational time with high optimality levels. Progress towards the most preferred solutions is made by having the Decision Maker (DM) periodically provide preference information once the MOPSO iterations are underway. By involving the DM within the optimisation process, the search is directed to the region of interest, which accelerates the process. The flexibility and efficiency of undertaking optimisation interactively have been demonstrated by comparing the interactive results with the non-interactive results of an optimum design case obtained using Multi-Objective Tabu Search (MOTS) for the Aegis UAV. The obtained results show the superiority of using an interactive approach for the aerodynamic shape design, compared to posteriori approaches. By carrying out the optimisation using interactive MOPSO it was shown to be possible to obtain similar results to non-interactive MOTS with only half the evaluations. Moreover, much of the usual complexity of post-data-analysis with posteriori approaches is avoided, since the DM is involved in the search process.