Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3095
Date of Award
9-2025
Degree Name
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Department/Program
Aerospace Engineering
College
College of Science and Mathematics
Advisor
David Marshall
Advisor Department
Aerospace Engineering
Advisor College
College of Science and Mathematics
Abstract
This thesis describes the development, implementation, and validation of an adjoint-enhanced panel method for two-dimensional airfoil analysis. While conventional panel methods are computationally efficient for flow analysis, they typically rely on relatively computationally expensive finite differencing for gradient calculation in design optimization or sensitivity studies, a limitation addressed by employing the discrete adjoint method. The core of this work involves integrating the discrete adjoint method with a Hess-Smith panel code utilizing Class-Shape Transformation (CST) for airfoil parameterization, which requires the analytical derivation of sensitivities for panel geometry, boundary conditions, and the aerodynamic influence matrix with respect to the CST design parameters. Performance analysis highlights the significant computational efficiency advantage of the adjoint method over traditional finite differencing for gradient calculation, with superior scaling as the number of design parameters grows, even for objectives requiring finite difference evaluation of their direct sensitivities. This work successfully establishes a robust and efficient adjoint-enhanced tool for 2D airfoil analysis, providing a solid foundation for future extensions to more complex aerodynamic design and optimization problems.