17th AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference
 
 
 Application of Evolutionary Algorithms to Small Jet Arrays for Flow Control

Raymond P. LeBeau, Jr., Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky
rplebeau@engr.edu
Liang Huang, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky
Thomas Hauser, Dept. of Mechanical and Aeropsace Engineering, Utah State University


Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in conjunction with an evolutionary searching algorithm like a genetic algorithm (GA) potentially offers an efficient and robust optimization method for current flow control designs. As the parameter space under investigation increases in complexity, the performance of evolutionary search algorithms should remain high and become increasingly effective compared to gradient-based methods. Based on previous work optimizing a two-jet system, this paper will test the performance of the EARND genetic algorithm and other selected evolutionary algorithms on small arrays of blowing and suction jets on a NACA 0012 airfoil. In addition to the flow control results, emphasis is placed on the development of an efficient algorithm and CFD computation to address the high computational costs associated with these problems.