ECCOMAS 2024

Multidisciplinary optimization of load adaptive wings for highly efficient long-haul airliners

  • Wunderlich, Tobias Franziskus (German Aerospace Center)
  • Dähne, Sascha (German Aerospace Center)

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As part of the DLR project oLAF (optimal load-adaptive aircraft), a long-haul airliner with maneuver load reduction limited to aileron deflections and the use of a geared turbofan engine is being designed and optimized. Adaptive wing technologies based on trailing edge control surface deflections to reduce drag at cruise and for optimal load reduction are introduced and supplemented by other structural technologies with increased strain allowable to reduce wing mass. Using multidisciplinary design optimization, an aircraft design using these technologies has been made and is compared to the reference aircraft. In this work the results of the aero-structural wing optimizations of the reference aircraft and the aircraft with a load adaptive wing will be presented. In this optimization process, high-fidelity simulation methods are used to determine the flight performance in the transonic cruise flight, the loads of the wing in maneuver flight and the mass of the wing box made of fiber composite materials. Static aeroelastic effects are considered in all flight conditions. The minimization of the fuel consumption for three typical flight missions represents the objective function. The geometric integration of the landing gear and the control surfaces, the tailplane sizing and aircraft trimming are considered. The selected design parameters describe the twist distribution and the control surface deflections. The results include a detailed presentation of the aerodynamic performances in the cruise and maneuver flight, the wing deformations and the structural mechanical properties after structural sizing.