Trajectory optimization of morphing aircraft based on multi⁃fidelity model

Morphing aircraft can flexibly change its aerodynamic shape to adapt to the varying flight conditions during a flight. Compared with the traditional fixed shape aircraft, it has a very obvious advantage. This paper proposed a solution flow based on the multi-fidelity model for the morphing aircraft with morphing wings, and the optimal trajectory and morphing rules are studied. The angle of attack, Mach number, sweep angle and axial position of the morphing wing are defined as variables for generating training data for building the multi-fidelity Kriging model, which is used to predict the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. Based on the hp-adaptive pseudospectral method, the model is used as aerodynamic input to establish the optimization process of morphing rules, and the trajectory optimization is carried out for the contrast fixed wing aircraft and morphing aircraft with the goal of minimum fuel consumption, respectively. The control parameters such as morphing parameters, angle of attack and engine control parameters are optimized simultaneously while meeting the flight mission requirements. The results show that the morphing aircraft has higher climbing and descending efficiency, and the optimal trajectory has obvious advantages. Moreover, the research flow proposed in this paper is universal, which can effectively reduce the CFD calculation cost and improve the efficiency of trajectory optimization of the variable shape vehicle. ©2022 Journal of Northwestern Polytechnical University.