A modular adjoint approach to aircraft mission analysis and optimization

Abstract

Aircraft design and trajectory optimization are typically performed sequentially, which can lead to suboptimal results.To address this, we develop a new mission analysis and trajectory optimization tool that is efficient, robust, and modular.This enables large-scale optimization in problems involving trajectory and other disciplines.The most important feature that sets this tool apart from existing mission analysis software is the use of a computational framework to provide benefits in efficiency and modularity.Through different test cases, we are able to demonstrate the efficiency and the robustness of the developed approach.The generated mission analysis results match well with data from other tools.Runge oscillations are evident in trajectory optimization cases with insufficient number of altitude design variables.Therefore, we provide a relation between the minimum number of altitude design variables needed and the range of the mission for avoiding these oscillations efficiently.