Research On Computing Environment For Aircraft Conceptual Design And Optimization

To provide a convenient tool for aircraft design education, method research on aircraft design and practical use, a computing environment for aircraft conceptual design and optimization was developed with techniques of object oriented programming, secondary development of CATIA, and optimization framework iSIGHT. The research work in this thesis is presented as the followings:1) A framework of the aircraft conceptual design environment was proposed, in which the principles for the development of the environment was presented and the functions of all modules were defined.2) Using a preliminary sizing method, preliminary sizing module was competed. Based on the empirical formulas for conceptual design, the aerodynamic, weight, propulsion and performance analysis modules were coded. With the technique of secondary development for CATIA, a module for aircraft conceptual 3D shape generation was accomplished.3) According to the framework of the computing environment for aircraft conceptual design, the computing environment was developed successfully by integrating all modules, including preliminary sizing, aerodynamic analysis, weight estimating, propulsion system computing, performance analysis and 3D shape generation modules. An example for a typical aircraft conceptual design was used to verify its feasibility.4) A computing environment for aircraft conceptual design optimization is implemented by integrating aerodynamic analysis, weight estimating, propulsion and performance analysis modules into the optimization framework iSIGHT.The computing environment developed in this thesis can be used not only for education of aircraft conceptual design, but also for the research such as robust optimization for aircraft conceptual design and the aircraft family design method. Also, this computing environment, if modified for a particular purpose, can be used for practical application.