Multicriteria decision optimization for the design and manufacture of structural aircraft parts

This paper concerns an optimization method applied to the design for manufacturing (DFM) of aircraft structural parts. Today, the aerospace industry has to produce aircraft less and less costly. Usual design and manufacturing process are not sufficiently efficient. A dedicated DFM method ensures that all manufacturing requirements are taken into account at the design stage. However, all requirements cannot be satisfied together; thus the best compromise must be found. The proposed approach is based on the formulation of 5 design and manufacturing performance indicators to be satisfied. From the geometrical modelling of the problem, an NSGA II genetic algorithm computes a population of one thousand permissible solutions. Thus, a decision process is applied to identify the best compromise according to the behaviour of the decision maker, using Topsis and the AHP method. This methodology is applied in an industrial context to an aircraft structural part manufactured by stamping and machining. The optimal part geometry is then calculated for three different airplane configurations. Such tests are used to extract geometric design rules. In addition, the paper highlights the impact of the user’s behaviour on the computed results.