Surrogate based MDO of a canard configuration aircraft

A multidisciplinary design optimization for range maximization process of a canard unmanned aircraft configuration is described. The mission definition as well as stability and maneuverability requirements drive the aero-structural surrogate-based optimization of the configuration including fuselage, wing, canard and vertical surfaces. The stability requirements are included in the optimization as geometrical constraints in the design variables leaving only the structural integrity as a constraint in the optimization. Kriging based surrogate models are generated for both objective function and constraints. A combination of several acquisition functions with engineering knowledge is used for surrogate models enrichment and avoid excessive exploration of the design space. Performance metrics parameters plots show the evolution of the configurations during the iterative optimization process and said evolution is discussed. The optimized configuration analyses estimate an L/D significantly higher and a considerable reduction in structural mass factor when compared to the initial best configuration, with the drawback of increasing the stall speed.