Minimum-Fuel Cruise at Constant Altitude with Fixed Arrival Time

Abstract

A N IMPORTANT problem in air traffic management (ATM) is the design of aircraft trajectories that meet certain arrival time constraints at given waypoints, for instance, at the top of descent (TOD), at the initial approach fix (IAF), or at the runway threshold. These are called 4-D trajectories, which are a key element in the trajectory-based-operations (TBO) concept proposed by NextGen and SESAR for the future ATM system. The time constraints must also be met in certain cases in which the nominal trajectories have to be modified to resolve detected conflicts (e.g., lost of separation minima) between aircraft; for example, Bilimoria and Lee [1] analyze aircraft conflict resolution with an arrival time constraint at a downstream waypoint. On the other hand, the design of fuel-optimal trajectories that lead to energy-efficient flights is another important problem which has been treated extensively in the literature, see, for instance, Burrows [2], Neuman andKreindler [3],Menon [4] and the references therein. Fuel-optimal trajectories with fixed arrival times are studied by Sorensen and Waters [5], Burrows [6] and Chakravarty [7], who analyze the 4-D fuel-optimization problem as a minimum directoperating-cost (DOC) problem with free final time, that is, the problem is to find the time cost for which the corresponding free final-time DOC-optimal trajectory arrives at the assigned time. In this work we analyze the problem of minimum-fuel cruise at constant altitudewith afixed arrival time as a singular optimal control problem, building upon the works of Pargett and Ardema [8] and Rivas and Valenzuela [9], who analyze the problem of maximumrange cruise at constant altitude also as a singular optimal control problem; the case of unsteady cruise is considered. The singular arcs and the corresponding optimal control are obtained as a function of the final time. The optimal paths are obtained as well, which define a variable-Mach cruise at constant altitude. The influence of cruise altitude on the optimal paths is analyzed, and the minimum fuel is calculated. The final-time constraint may be defined, for example, by a flight delay imposed on the nominal (preferred) cruise trajectory (which in our case is the minimum-fuel cruise trajectory with free final time); comparison with a standard constant-Mach procedure to absorb delays is made. Results are presented for a model of a Boeing 767-300ER. Problem Formulation