Automatic airfoil and wing design based on dynamic modeling of structural and aerodynamic performance

A system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
• identify an input set of quantitative design variables of an input airfoil corresponding to an aircraft wing;
• determine a cross-sectional aerodynamic performance metric of a cross-section of the aircraft wing corresponding to the input airfoil;
• determine a cross-sectional structural stiffness of the cross-section of the aircraft wing corresponding to the input airfoil;
• iteratively determine a wing aerodynamic performance metric over a span of the aircraft wing and a deformation metric over the span of the aircraft wing based on the cross-sectional structural stiffness and the cross-sectional aerodynamic performance metric until converging to generate an equilibrium deformation metric of the aircraft wing corresponding to an equilibrium wing aerodynamic performance metric of the aircraft wing;
• and
• generate a modified airfoil by modifying the input set of quantitative design variables of the input airfoil based on the cross-sectional structural stiffness and the equilibrium wing aerodynamic performance metric of the aircraft wing.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to:

• identify an input set of quantitative design variables of an input airfoil corresponding to an aircraft wing;
• determine a cross-sectional aerodynamic performance metric of a cross-section of the aircraft wing corresponding to the input airfoil;
• determine a cross-sectional structural stiffness of the cross-section of the aircraft wing corresponding to the input airfoil;
• iteratively determine a wing aerodynamic performance metric over a span of the aircraft wing and a deformation metric over the span of the aircraft wing based on the cross-sectional structural stiffness and the cross-sectional aerodynamic performance metric until converging to generate an equilibrium deformation metric of the aircraft wing corresponding to an equilibrium wing aerodynamic performance metric of the aircraft wing;
• and
• generate a modified airfoil by modifying the input set of quantitative design variables of the input airfoil based on the cross-sectional structural stiffness and the equilibrium wing aerodynamic performance metric of the aircraft wing.