Hybrid inverse design method for nonlifting bodies in incompressible flow

A methodology for the inverse design of nonlifting axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric bodies in incompressible flow is presented. In this method, an inverse design approach based on conformal mapping is used to design a set of airfoils in isolation. These airfoils are then assembled into a three-dimensional body and the flow over the body is calculated using a panel method. The inverse design parameters for the isolated airfoils are adjusted by a multidimensional nonlinear solver to achieve the desired aerodynamic properties on the three-dimensional body. The method can be used with fairly complex geometries, such as bodies in the presence of a wing or keel. The suitability and performance of several numerical schemes are compared in the paper. Several examples are presented that demonstrate the flexibility of the design method when applied to various representative design problems and they also show the ability of the method to match a known velocity distribution.