Enhancing rapid drag analysis for transonic aircraft configuration trade studies

Abstract

Accurate prediction of aerodynamic drag characteristics across a wide range of wing-body configurations is crucial in the early design stages of transonic commercial transport aircraft. Deviations in predicted performance at later design stages can lead to costly redesigns and delays. Existing semi-empirical models, which rely on legacy correlations, have limitations in their applicability to next-generation high-aspect-ratio wings. This study explores the use of a Viscous-Coupled Full-Potential (VFP) method and presents the AeroMap framework to rapidly generate aerodynamic performance maps for evaluating both on- and off-design aerodynamic characteristics of wing-body configurations. These performance maps define critical transonic boundaries and global performance metrics within the M∞-CL-Re∞ space, enabling early-stage design trade studies and supporting candidate configuration selection. AeroMap is validated against experimental data from NASA's National Transonic Facility (NTF) and Ames wind tunnel tests for the NASA-CRM wing-body configuration, demonstrating its reliable predictive capabilities. The framework's predictions of drag divergence onset across various wing-body configurations highlights the importance of considering viscous-compressibility interactions and the spanwise progression of shock strength, factors that are not captured by the Korn-Lock-Mason method. With computational costs at least one to two orders of magnitude lower than high-fidelity solvers, AeroMap is suitable for configuration trade studies during the early design phase.