MICADO: Overview of Recent Developments within the Conceptual Aircraft Design and Optimization Environment

Abstract

This paper presents recent developments within the Multidisciplinary Integrated Conceptual Aircraft Design and Optimization environment (MICADO). MICADO has been developed at the Institute of Aerospace Systems of RWTH Aachen University since 2008; the last full status overview, however, was given in 2012. In the course of the last years, not only the underlying software architecture but also the level of detail in the different disciplines of conceptual aircraft design have been continuously improved. In the field of software architecture, the developer- and user-friendliness have increased. At the same time, improvements in methodology and modules have enabled re-designs of already existing aircraft and evaluation capabilities of different technologies. In addition, the design scope has been extended to smaller aircraft from the CS-23 sector, and the aircraft design analysis competencies have been expanded to economic, ecological, and sociological aspects. An overview of projects in which MICADO has been used shows the manifold applicability of the software.