9. Shape Analysis - Winged Vehicle

Using the methods and models described in the previous chapters, we present the results of the shape optimization of the winged vehicle in this chapter. We start by discussing the results of a Monte Carlo analysis of the search space, from which we draw preliminary conclusions on the influence of the various constraint functions, and their correlation with the shape parameters. Subsequently, we show the optimization results for the following objective functions: vehicle mass, fuselage volume and ground track length. Both the double-objective results (for each combination) and the full triple-objective results are shown. We perform two additional alternative optimizations, one for which the pitch stability constrain is imposed for all angles of attach (instead of \(\alpha > 20^{\circ }\)) and one where the range objective is replaced with a maximum time at reference heat flux objectives. The results of these optimizations provide insight into the influence of a change in vehicle and mission requirements, respectively.