Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Twin-Fuselage Aircraft with Boundary-Layer-Ingesting Distributed Propulsion

Abstract

The requirements of sustainable and fuel-efficient next-generation air transportation place greater demands on future aircraft design. Distributed electric propulsion (DEP) and twin-fuselage (TF) are promising concepts to improve aircraft aerodynamic efficiency and flight performance. This paper aims to develop a multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization (MDAO) framework for the TF DEP aircraft concept to investigate the potential of introducing these two technologies in improving aircraft energy efficiency. The most important effect modeled in this study is the influence of the boundary-layer-ingesting DEP system on the propulsive efficiency. Besides, analytical models are derived for the mass, aerodynamic, and performance analysis, separately. Design cases of a wing-segment-mounted DEP, and a TF DEP unmanned aerial vehicle are analyzed to investigate the design space of DEP parameters and to demonstrate the MDAO process. The results show that the best arrangement of the DEP is to distribute the propulsors evenly on the three wing segments of the wing divided by the two fuselages. The optimization leads to more than a 65% increment in the endurance and an 8% reduction in the takeoff mass of the exemplary aircraft.