Concurrent Aircraft Design and Trip Assignment under Uncertainty: Fractional Operations

Abstract

The phrase “System of Systems” (SoS) describes a large system of multiple systems – each capable of independent operation – that have been brought together to provide capabilities beyond those of each individual constituent system. Formulating and solving an SoS design problem has become increasingly important in the aerospace and defense industries as customers have begun to ask contractors for broad capabilities and solutions rather than for specific individual systems. Part of an SoS design problem is determining the appropriate mix of both existing and yet-to-be-designed systems. While determining an appropriate mix of existing systems falls into the category of resource allocation, including features of a yet-to-be-designed system complicates the problem by requiring the allocation of a variable resource. This paper focuses on the representation and solution of the concurrent aircraft design and trip assignment problem of a Fractional Management Company as a system-ofsystems problem considering uncertain operations where demand varies from day to day. The work described here introduces an approach to design aircraft that directly and positively affect s not only aircraft design but also costs related to its operations and allocation. This is a departure from past representations that consider the solution to allocation problems and the solution to aircraft design problems separately. Simultaneously considering the aircraft design and trip assignment problem can take advantage of interactions between these two problems that are intangible if they are considered independently but can result in improved performance for the operator when considered simultaneously.