Advances in high-fidelity shape optimization for industrial problems are presented, based on geometric variability assessment and design-space dimensionality reduction by Karhunen–Loève expansion, metamodels and deterministic particle swarm optimization (PSO). Hull-form optimization is performed for resistance reduction of the high-speed Delft catamaran, advancing in calm water at a given speed, and free to sink and trim. Two feasible sets (A and B) are assessed, using different geometric constraints. Dimensionality reduction for 95% confidence is applied to high-dimensional free-form deformation. Metamodels are trained by design of experiments with URANS; multiple deterministic PSOs achieve a resistance reduction of 9.63% for A and 6.89% for B. Deterministic PSO is found to be effective and efficient, as shown by comparison with stochastic PSO. The optimum for A has the best overall performance over a wide range of speed. Compared with earlier optimization, the present studies provide an additional resistance reduction of 6.6% at 1/10 of the computational cost.

The paper presents a study on four adaptive sampling methods of a multi-fidelity (MF) metamodel, based on stochastic radial basis functions (RBF), for global design optimisation based on expensive CFD computer simulations and adaptive grid refinement. The MF metamodel is built as the sum of a low-fidelity-trained metamodel and an error metamodel, based on the difference between high- and low-fidelity simulations. The MF metamodel is adaptively refined using dynamic sampling criteria, based on the prediction uncertainty in combination with the objective optimum and the computational cost of high- and low-fidelity evaluations. The adaptive sampling methods are demonstrated by four analytical benchmark and two design optimisation problems, pertaining to the resistance reduction of a NACA hydrofoil and a destroyer-type vessel. The performance of the adaptive sampling methods is assessed via objective function convergence.