This application page is under development. It will present the aeroelastic MDO formulation, design tradeoffs, and results as the associated project materials are finalized.
Study: Aoran Tian, Gradient-Based Aeroelastic Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle, MS thesis, UC San Diego, 2026.
Optimization problem
| Case | Aeroelastic wing optimization in 3 m/s forward flight |
|---|---|
| Objective | Minimize cycle-averaged actuator power, assuming no energy recovery from negative mechanical work. |
| Design variables | Flapping frequency; five Fourier coefficients each for flapping and pitch angles; six half-wing spar radii; assumed structural displacements used for disciplinary coupling. |
| Constraints | Mean lift at least equal to vehicle weight; mean thrust at least equal to modeled drag; structural stress no greater than 4.67 MPa; wing-tip separation of at least 5 mm; consistency between assumed and computed structural displacements. |
| Models and conditions | Unsteady vortex-lattice aerodynamics and Euler–Bernoulli beam finite elements, coupled through an individual-disciplinary-feasible formulation and augmented-Lagrangian iterations. The wing-only model omits fuselage and actuator dynamics. |
| Representative source | Aoran Tian, Gradient-Based Aeroelastic Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle, MS thesis, UC San Diego, 2026. |
| Source locator | Formulation: PDF pages 41–47; flight conditions: page 34. |
Research connections