A Parametric and Physics-Based Approach to Structural Weight Estimation of the Hybrid Wing Body Aircraft

Estimating the structural weight of a Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft during conceptual design has proven to be a significant challenge due to its unconventional configuration. Many of the tools and methods typically employed for this task are inadequate since they are derived from historical data generated by decades of tube-and-wing style construction. Therefore, a physics-based multidisciplinary analysis and weight optimization environment was developed for the purpose of structural weight estimation of the HWB using a parameterization consistent with the conceptual design phase. The environment was calibrated with a Boeing HWB sizing study and validated using conventional wing case studies. A trade study was also performed to the set of identify input parameters that most greatly contributed to the variability of the structural weight. Since the environment requires lengthy computational times, the results of the parameter investigation were used to generate more computationally efficient approximation equations of the HWB structural weight to be utilized during the initial aircraft sizing process.