Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method

Transonic buffet is a phenomenon of large self-excited shock oscillations caused by shock wave-boundary layer interaction, which is one of the common flow instability problems in aeronautical engineering. This phenomenon involves unsteady flow, which makes optimal design more difficult. In this pape...

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Main Authors: Hao Chen, Chuanqiang Gao, Jifei Wu, Kai Ren, Weiwei Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Aerospace
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/5/486
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author Hao Chen
Chuanqiang Gao
Jifei Wu
Kai Ren
Weiwei Zhang
author_facet Hao Chen
Chuanqiang Gao
Jifei Wu
Kai Ren
Weiwei Zhang
author_sort Hao Chen
collection DOAJ
description Transonic buffet is a phenomenon of large self-excited shock oscillations caused by shock wave-boundary layer interaction, which is one of the common flow instability problems in aeronautical engineering. This phenomenon involves unsteady flow, which makes optimal design more difficult. In this paper, aerodynamic shape optimization design is combined with reinforcement learning to address the problem of transonic buffet. Using the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm, a reinforcement learning-based design framework for airfoil shape optimization was constructed to achieve effective suppression of transonic buffet. The aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil were calculated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. After optimization, the buffet onset angles of attack of the airfoils NACA0012 and RAE2822 were improved by 2° and 1.2° respectively, and the lift-drag ratios improved by 83.5% and 30% respectively. Summarizing and verifying the optimization results, three general conclusions can be drawn to improve the buffet performance: (1) narrowing of the leading edge of the airfoil; (2) situating the maximum thickness position at approximately 0.4 times the chord length; (3) increasing the thickness of the trailing edge within a certain range. This paper established a reinforcement learning-based unsteady optimal design method that enables the optimization of unsteady problems, including buffet.
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spelling doaj.art-ed3cbb75f2ba48af93e862d4c6debb942023-11-18T00:01:02ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102023-05-0110548610.3390/aerospace10050486Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning MethodHao Chen0Chuanqiang Gao1Jifei Wu2Kai Ren3Weiwei Zhang4School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaSchool of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaAerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, ChinaSchool of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaSchool of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, ChinaTransonic buffet is a phenomenon of large self-excited shock oscillations caused by shock wave-boundary layer interaction, which is one of the common flow instability problems in aeronautical engineering. This phenomenon involves unsteady flow, which makes optimal design more difficult. In this paper, aerodynamic shape optimization design is combined with reinforcement learning to address the problem of transonic buffet. Using the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm, a reinforcement learning-based design framework for airfoil shape optimization was constructed to achieve effective suppression of transonic buffet. The aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil were calculated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. After optimization, the buffet onset angles of attack of the airfoils NACA0012 and RAE2822 were improved by 2° and 1.2° respectively, and the lift-drag ratios improved by 83.5% and 30% respectively. Summarizing and verifying the optimization results, three general conclusions can be drawn to improve the buffet performance: (1) narrowing of the leading edge of the airfoil; (2) situating the maximum thickness position at approximately 0.4 times the chord length; (3) increasing the thickness of the trailing edge within a certain range. This paper established a reinforcement learning-based unsteady optimal design method that enables the optimization of unsteady problems, including buffet.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/5/486transonic buffetreinforcement learningairfoil optimization designcomputational fluid dynamicsdeep deterministic policy gradient algorithm
spellingShingle Hao Chen
Chuanqiang Gao
Jifei Wu
Kai Ren
Weiwei Zhang
Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method
Aerospace
transonic buffet
reinforcement learning
airfoil optimization design
computational fluid dynamics
deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm
title Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method
title_full Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method
title_fullStr Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method
title_full_unstemmed Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method
title_short Study on Optimization Design of Airfoil Transonic Buffet with Reinforcement Learning Method
title_sort study on optimization design of airfoil transonic buffet with reinforcement learning method
topic transonic buffet
reinforcement learning
airfoil optimization design
computational fluid dynamics
deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm
url https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/5/486
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AT jifeiwu studyonoptimizationdesignofairfoiltransonicbuffetwithreinforcementlearningmethod
AT kairen studyonoptimizationdesignofairfoiltransonicbuffetwithreinforcementlearningmethod
AT weiweizhang studyonoptimizationdesignofairfoiltransonicbuffetwithreinforcementlearningmethod