Publications

Conference Paper

High-fidelity Aerostructural Optimization Studies of the Aerion AS2 Supersonic Business Jet

authors

N. P. Bons, J. R. R. A. Martins, C. A. Mader, M. McMullen, and M. Suen

journal

Proceedings of the AIAA Aviation Forum, 2020

doi

10.2514/6.2020-3182

PDF 
@inproceedings{Bons2020b,
  author = {Bons, Nicolas P. and Martins, Joaquim R. R. A. and Mader, Charles A. and McMullen, Matthew and Suen, Michelle},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the AIAA Aviation Forum},
  doi = {10.2514/6.2020-3182},
  keywords = {ank},
  month = jun,
  title = {High-fidelity Aerostructural Optimization Studies of the {Aerion AS2} Supersonic Business Jet},
  year = {2020}
}
Google Scholar

The Aerion AS2 is poised to make supersonic transportation viable and drastically reduce transoceanic travel time. The design of a supersonic transport aircraft is challenging because experience with this type of aircraft is scarce. Achieving the required range at supersonic speeds requires a refined design with the best combination of aerodynamic and structural performance. Adequate transonic cruise performance is also required due to mission segments overland. To address these issues, we perform CFD-based aerostructural design of the Aerion AS2 supersonic business jet configuration. The aerostructural optimization simultaneously varies structural sizing and wing shape variables to maximize a combination of supersonic and transonic cruise ranges. We examine the design trades between these two ranges by generating sets of Pareto-optimal designs. Optimizations that include wing planform design variables achieve the best design trades, but maximizing supersonic range is particularly challenging. Overall, these initial results show that CFD-based multidisciplinary design optimization is fast enough that we can perform this type of extensive design exploration before the detailed design stage.