Jonas Jepsen

On the Design of a Strut-Braced Wing Configuration in a Collaborative Design Environment

Due to its drag saving potential through application of high aspect ratio wings, the strut-braced wing configuration is considered a promising candidate as a next generation single-aisle aircraft. This potential is reflected in the results of the renowned Sugar and Albatross projects of Boeing and ONERA. In the course of DLRs project future enhanced aircraft configurations (FrEACs), a strut-braced wing configuration is examined with focus on the interaction of aerodynamics, loads, structures and aeroelastics. The present study outlines the applied design process for the strut-braced wing configuration in DLRs collaborative design environment and highlights lessons learnt from an organizational and technical point of view. It proves that the level of confidence in the design process is largely increased by effectively combining both the explicit and implicit knowledge of the heterogeneous specialists involved. The explicit knowledge is incorporated through automated execution of the specialists tools in structured simulation workflows. Implicit knowledge of the specialists is required to interpret results both in the respective disciplinary context as well as on overall aircraft design level. Applying the collaborative design process enables statements on the possible gain of strut-braced wing over conventional tube and wing configurations. The paper describes the applied collaborative design procedure, shows results concerning the physical aspects of the strut-braced wing configuration and concludes by providing lessons learnt and an outlook into the application of collaborative design.

Multi-Level MDO of a Long-Range Transport Aircraft Using a Distributed Analysis Framework

DLRs work on developing a distributed collaborative MDO environment is presented. A multi-level Approach combining high-fidelity MDA for aerodynamics and structures with conceptual aircraft design methods is employed. Configuration-specific sizing loads are evaluated and used for sizing the structure. A gradient-free optimization algorithm is used to optimize the fuel burn of a generic long-range wide-body transport aircraft configuration with 9 shape parameters. The results show a truly multidisciplinary improvement of the modified design. The result of a gradient-free high-fidelity MDO with preselected load cases and five shape parameters is also presented, comparing a full mission analysis with results for the Breguet range equation.