• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.10-14
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• 2015

To design airfoils for novel airplanes, new knowledge of aerodynamics is required. In this study, modified Parametric SECtion (PARSEC) which is a airfoil representation is applied to airfoil design using a multi-objective genetic algorithm to obtain an optimal airfoil for consideration in the development of a Martian airplane. In this study, an airfoil that can obtain a sufficient lift and glide ratio under lower thrust is considered. The objective functions are to maximize maximum lift-to-drag ratio and to maximize the trailing edge thickness. In this way, information on the low Reynolds number airfoil could be extracted efficiently. The optimization results suggest that the airfoil with a sharper thickness at the leading edge and higher camber at the trailing edge is more suitable for a Martian airplane. In addition, several solutions which has thicker trailing edge thickness were found.