Sensitivity-based Multifidelity Multidisciplinary Optimization of a Powered Aircraft Subject to a Comprehensive Set of Loads

Abstract

Over the past decade, profound attention was given to exploring the benefits of engaging numerical multidisciplinary design optimization in aircraft design. Due to its importance, aerostructural wing design optimization is the most visited multidisciplinary problem in research institutes. To deal with this problem efficiently, gradient-based algorithms are popularly used. The complexity of the gradient-based aerostructural optimization, however, forced researchers to apply several simplifications to the problem formulation, such as neglecting engine effects or oversimplifying the loads process into few predefined load cases. The authors of this paper aim at running a gradients-based multidisciplinary design optimization of a commercial aircraft while including a powered engine and engaging a comprehensive, multi-fidelity loads process, subject to flutter as well as overall aircraft design constraints. The work, done by experts in the mentioned fields, is performed on a commercial aircraft provided by Airbus with many industry-relevant constraints. The results, showed the necessity to include a comprehensive loads process during the optimization. Additionally, it was concluded that engaging powered engines during the optimization is inevitable to come up with realistic designs; significantly different design geometries resulted when engaging a powered engine than when running the optimization with a flow-through nacelle.