Multidisciplinary Optimization of A Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Aircraft Using Aviary
The continuous push to decrease fuel burn of single-aisle commercial aircraft has led to interest in a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) concept vehicle. Sporting high-slung wings that are long and slender to increase aerodynamic efficiency, a TTBW can also accommodate higher-bypass turbine engines. The combination of these two changes potentially leads to an overall decrease in fuel consumption. In this paper, a TTBW concept vehicle is assembled in the Aviary open-source tool for conceptual aircraft design. The conceptual-level aerodynamics and propulsion systems that come prepackaged with Aviary are replaced with higher-fidelity vortex lattice method for aerodynamics (VSPAERO) and a one-dimensional cycle analysis tool for propulsion (pyCycle). The vehicle is then optimized to minimize fuel burn for a representative commercial mission. Design parameters for the vehicle include the electrified turbine size, the size of the electric motors which are used for takeoff and climb assist, and battery capacity. The TTBW concept vehicle presented in this paper represents the first application of Aviary to an aircraft design problem.