The design of complex systems such as launch vehicles involves different fields of expertise that are interconnected. To perform multidisciplinary studies, concurrent engineering aims at providing a collaborative environment which often relies on data set exchange. In order to efficiently achieve system-level analyses (uncertainty propagation, sensitivity analysis, optimization, etc.), it is necessary to go beyond data set exchange which limits the capabilities of performance assessments. Multidisciplinary design optimization methodologies is a collection of engineering methodologies to optimize systems modelled as a set of coupled disciplinary analyses and is a key enabler to extend concurrent engineering capabilities. This article is focused on several examples of recent developments of multidisciplinary design optimization methodologies (e.g. multidisciplinary design optimization with transversal decomposition of the design process, multidisciplinary design optimization under uncertainty) with applications to launch vehicle design to illustrate the benefices of taking into account the coupling effects between the different physics all along the design process. These methods enable to manage the complexity of the involved physical phenomena and their interactions in order to generate innovative concepts such as reusable launch vehicles beyond existing solutions.
Preliminary study on launch vehicle design: Applications of multidisciplinary design optimization methodologies