Special Interest Group on Numerical Optimisation with Fluids

The competitiveness of UK and European manufacturing depends on tools to systematically and automatically explore the design space to find innovative, cost-effective, highly-performant products with a reduced environmental footprint. Numerical Optimisation (NumOpt) in structural mechanics is widely used and has become an essential part in modern, effective design processes. The heavy computational cost of CFD simulations has so far limited the uptake of NumOpt to systems with only a handful of design variables. Addressing this limitation requires efficient optimisation algorithms and/or efficient parametrisations that cover the full design space using a small number of design variables.

The scope of this SIG goes wider than aeronautic optimisation only. Aeronautics has been at the forefront of numerical optimisation and there is an established SIG on aero optimisation at the AIAA, including regular benchmarking on standardised problems. The UK Fluids Network SIG aims to provide a forum for problems arising in land vehicle design, gas- and wind-turbines, or process engineering. This SIG will focus academic research toward major improvements in efficiency, robustness and versatility such that design optimisation with fluids becomes a routine R&D task, similar to to structural optimisation.