An Automated and Efficient Aerodynamic Design and Analysis Framework Integrated to PANAIRAircraft design is an iterative process that requires an estimation of
aerodynamic characteristics including drag and lift coefficients, stall
behavior, velocity, and pressure profiles repeatedly, especially in the
conceptual design phase. PanAir is a high-order aerodynamic panel method-based
algorithm developed as a part of the Public Domain Aeronautical Software
program mostly with NASA sponsorship. It is based upon potential flow theory
and is used to numerically compute lift, induced drag, and moment coefficients
of the aircraft in both subsonic and supersonic flight regimes. Quoting from
developers it is the most versatile and accurate of all the linear theory panel
codes. PanAir is a classical software that requires geometric data as an input
in the form of a PanAir-compatible format; however, commonly used
Computer-Aided Design Software packages no longer conform to the PanAir input
format. Likewise, PanAir produces its output in a PanAir-specific output file
which is not compatible with commonly used visualization software. The input
geometry required by PanAir and its output, therefore, involves significant
manual preand post-processing using intermediary software. The work proposed
here is an automated pre and post-processor to be used together with PanAir.
With the environment proposed in this work, manipulation of input and output
data using several intermediary software to and from PanAir is bypassed
successfully. The proposed environment is validated over a Cessna 210 aircraft
geometry with a modified NLF (1)-0414 airfoil. The aircraft is numerically
analyzed using PanAir together
arxiv.org