Introduction

Computer simulations is a fundamental tool of the design process in many engineering disciplines including aerospace engineering. However, although high-fidelity numerical models are accurate, they can be computationally expensive with evaluation time for a single design as long as hours, days or even weeks.

Simulation-driven design using conventional optimization techniques may be therefore prohibitive. This book explores the alternative: performing computationally efficient design using surrogate-based optimization, where the high-fidelity model is replaced by its computationally cheap but still reasonably accurate representation: a surrogate. The emphasis is on physics-based surrogates.

Application Focus

Application-wise, the focus is on aerodynamics and the methods and techniques described in the book are demonstrated using aerodynamic shape optimization cases. Applications in other engineering fields are also demonstrated.

Unique Features

State-of-the-art techniques and a depth of coverage never published before make this a unique and essential book for all researchers working in aerospace and other engineering areas and dealing with optimization, computationally expensive design problems, and simulation-driven design.