Modelling and Design Optimization of a Novel Wide-Body Transport Aircraft to Improve the Structural Integrity

Abstract

One of the most challenging next-generation issues is examining a novel and sustainable aircraft to reduce emissions and fuel burn. IATA addressed these issues in collaboration with the EU, GARDEN, and Clean Sky programs to tackle the challenges using retrofit design and upgraded systems. This study aims to create a sustainable aircraft design to solve the fuel burn issue by minimizing the maximum take-off weight (MTOW). An optimized wide-body aircraft is established by selecting twelve aerodynamic design variables and fourteen flight mission constraints (retrofit, operational performance, and stability). To develop a sustainable wide body aircraft structure, this study proposes a hybrid design optimization algorithm combined with the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) technique. The CRITIC-WASPAS technique is used to obtain the baseline aircraft, and the optimal design of the baseline aircraft is achieved by solving the proposed nonlinear constrained optimization model. The selected baseline aircraft was compared with the optimized result to validate and determine the robustness of the objective function. The findings reflect that the formulation has improved the MTOW, empty weight fraction, fuel weight, and performance by 3.75%, 28.38%, 2.06%, and 8.63%, respectively.