Collaborative systems driven aircraft configuration design optimization

A Collaborative, Inside-Out Aircraft Design approach is presented in this paper. An approach using physics based analysis to evaluate the correlations between the airframe design, as well as sub-systems integration from the early design process, and to exploit the synergies within a simultaneous optimization process. Further, the disciplinary analysis modules involved in the optimization task are located in different organization. Hence, the Airframe and Subsystem design tools are integrated within a distributed overall aircraft synthesis process. The collaborative design process is implemented by making use of DLR’s engineering framework RCE. XML based central data format CPACS is the basis of communication within RCE to exchange model information between the analysis modules and between the partner organizations involved in the research activity. As a use case to evaluate the presented collaborative design method, an unmanned Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) configuration is selected. More electric sub-systems combinations are considered. The deployed framework simultaneously optimizes the airframe along with the sub-systems. DLR’s preliminary aircraft design environment is used for the airframe synthesis, and the Sub-systems design is performed by the ASTRID tool developed at Politecnico di Torino. The resulting aircraft and systems characteristics are used to assess the mission performance and optimization. In order to evaluate the physics based framework and system-airframe synergies, few case studies are considered: a) Three case studies involving Subsystem Architecture’s effect and Mission variation effect on overall aircraft performance and with fixed airframe. b) A case study of optimization involving wing planform variables and subsystem architecture for a given mission