Efficient Aerodynamic Optimization of Propeller using Hierarchical Kriging Models

The number of aerodynamic analysis in the design optimization of propeller has been reduced significantly by using the surrogate model, such as kriging. In this paper, a more efficient aerodynamic design optimization method of propeller is proposed by using the HK (hierarchical kriging) model. The high-fidelity model is defined as a RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) simulation for propeller and the low-fidelity model is defined as the results by blade-element/vortex theory. Initial samples are selected for two levels of fidelity via LHS (Latin Hypercube Sampling). The aerodynamic performance of varying fidelity is used to build variable-fidelity surrogate models for functions of objective (e.g. thrust) and constraint (e.g. shaft power). Infill sampling criteria, including MSP (minimizing of surrogate prediction), EI (expected improvement), PI (probability of improvement), LCB (lower-confidence bounding) and MSE (mean-squared error) are used to obtain new samples, and the surrogate models are repetitively updated until a global optimum is found. High-altitude propellers are optimized by the kriging model and hierarchical kriging model, respectively. Compared to kriging model, the number of RANS solving by the hierarchical kriging model is reduced 37.5%, and the optimization time is reduced 24.3%. The results have shown that the proposed design method for propeller can significantly improve the optimization efficiency.