Large-Scale Path-Dependent Optimization of Supersonic Aircraft

John P Jasa,Justin S Gray,Benjamin J Brelje,Charles A Mader,Joaquim R R A Martins

doi:10.3390/aerospace7100152

John P Jasa, Justin S Gray + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace7100152

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Abstract

Aircraft are multidisciplinary systems that are challenging to design due to interactions between the subsystems. The relevant disciplines, such as aerodynamic, thermal, and propulsion systems, must be considered simultaneously using a path-dependent formulation to assess aircraft performance accurately. In this paper, we construct a coupled aero-thermal-propulsive-mission multidisciplinary model to optimize supersonic aircraft considering their path-dependent performance. This large-scale optimization problem captures non-intuitive design trades that single disciplinary models and path-independent methods cannot resolve. We present optimal flight profiles for a supersonic aircraft with and without thermal constraints. We find that the optimal flight trajectory depends on thermal system performance, showing the need to optimize considering the path-dependent multidisciplinary interactions.

Highlights

Aerospace systems are path-dependent, and this feature must be considered to accurately assess system performance
We study a combination of disciplines using aerodynamic data constructed from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) evaluations, propulsion performance from one-dimensional cycle analysis tools, and thermal system models
To obtain the aerodynamic properties of the aircraft, we constructed a mesh for Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) CFD of the aircraft, which we evaluated at a range of different flight condition to generate an aerodynamic surrogate model

Summary

Introduction

Aerospace systems are path-dependent, and this feature must be considered to accurately assess system performance. We use the term path-dependent here to refer to any system where the time history of system state affects performance. If engineers ignored the aircraft’s time-dependent thermal history when designing the thermal management subsystems, they would inaccurately estimate the aircraft’s capabilities. Optimizing the design and trajectory of an aircraft considering path-dependent effects results in better overall performance than optimizing the trajectory of a fixed-design aircraft due to the coupling between aircraft design and mission performance. Modeling both the design and trajectory simultaneously accurately resolves the interdisciplinary trade-offs between the thermal constraints and heat generation, which leads to better aircraft performance

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Conclusion