Transport Aircraft Conceptual Design Optimization Using Real Coded Genetic Algorithm

Due to soaring oil prices, increased air traffic and competition among air transport companies, and environmental concerns, aircraft maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is becoming a critical aspect, of air transport industry. It is very important to estimate the MTOW of the aircraft in order to determine its performance. However, estimating the weight of an aircraft is not a simple task. The purpose of this paper is to present a simplified method to optimize the aircraft MTOW using a genetic algorithm approach. For the optimization of MTOW of transport aircraft, a MATLAB program consisting of genetic algorithm techniques with appropriate genetic algorithm parameters setting was developed. The objective function for the optimization was a minimization of MTOW. The use of genetic real coded algorithm (GA) as an optimization tool for an aircraft can help to reduce the number of qualitative decisions. Also, using GA approach, the time and the cost of conceptual design can considerably be reduced. The model is applicable to the air transport industry. The proposed model has been validated against the known configuration of an aircraft.