Multidisciplinary Optimization of Hydrogen Fuel Distribution System Architectures for Conceptual Aircraft Design

Kurzfassung

The transition toward sustainable aviation has intensified the exploration of alternative propulsion technologies, with hydrogen fuel cells emerging as a promising candidate. This study addresses existing knowledge gaps in the design and integration of hydrogen fuel systems for aircraft, aiming to support informed decision-making during early conceptual design stages. A system architecture optimization (SAO) framework is employed to investigate the design space of the hydrogen fuel system for a fuel-cell-powered regional airliner. The work leverages the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) collaborative engineering ecosystem, comprising the ADORE, MDAx, and RCE platforms, which collectively enable the integration of model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization (MDAO) for automated architecture exploration. The Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema (CPACS) serves as the central data model, ensuring consistent information exchange between tools and disciplines. The optimization problem is formulated to minimize both system mass and electrical power consumption, with several architectural design choices treated as decision variables. The performance of the NSGA-II evolutionary algorithm is benchmarked against a surrogate-assisted Bayesian optimization approach to evaluate their respective efficiencies in navigating the complex design space. Furthermore, the advantages of employing an automated architecting methodology are quantified through comparison with traditional, expert-driven approaches. This research not only demonstrates the applicability of SAO in a realistic aerospace engineering context but also establishes a foundation for future investigations into hydrogen fuel system architectures. The framework can be extended to incorporate broader system boundaries and more comprehensive design studies, thereby contributing to the development of next-generation sustainable aircraft propulsion systems.