Multidisciplinary optimization with low-boom design for supersonic civil aircraft conceptual design

To meet the demand for rapid analysis and optimization in conceptual design of supersonic civil aircraft, we present a multidisciplinary analysis optimization method integrated with low-boom design. The method consists of three main steps. Determining the target reversed equivalent area, which aims to provide a low-boom reversed equivalent area distribution target for multidisciplinary optimization. Optimizing the aircraft configuration within the multidisciplinary optimization framework, the overall parameters of the wing and tail are used as design variables to obtain a multiobjective optimal solution set for minimizing maximum takeoff weight and matching equivalent reversed area. Finetuning fuselage shape and tailplane parameters based on the results of multidisciplinary optimization, making minor adjustments to further match the target reversed equivalent area distribution. In this multidisciplinary approach, sonic boom characteristics are analyzed exclusively through the calculation of reversed equivalent area, which significantly reduces the computational expense. This enables the application of high-fidelity sonic boom prediction methods during the conceptual design. The method is compatible with existing multidisciplinary optimization frameworks for civil aircraft design, facilitating seamless implementation. The method is applied to the optimization of the medium-sized supersonic civil aircraft conceptual design. Results show that an optimal solution set for the multiple objectives is obtained with less computational expense. An optimal design that has less maximum takeoff weight and highly matches the reversed equivalent area, is selected from the optimal solution set. Compared to the baseline design, the maximum takeoff weight is reduced by 3.6% and sonic boom is reduced by 6.62 PLdB.