Integrated Trim and Structural Design Process for Active Aeroelastic Wing Technology

A new method for concurrent trim and structural optimization of Active Aeroelastic Wing technology is presented. The new process treats trim optimization and structural optimization as an integrated problem in the same mathematical formulation, in which control surface gear ratios are included as design variables in a standard structural optimization algorithm. This new approach is in contrast to most of the existing AAW design processes in which structural optimization and trim optimization have separate objectives and are performed in an iterative, sequential manner. The new integrated AAW design process is demonstrated on a lightweight fighter type aircraft and compared to a sequential AAW design process. For this demonstration, the integrated process converges to a lower weight, and offers an advantage over the sequential process in that optimization is performed in one continuous run, whereas the sequential approach requires pausing and restarting the structural optimization to allow for trim optimization.