Aircraft configuration and flight profile optimization using simulated annealing

This paper discusses the application of simulated annealing in the conceptual design and optimization of twin-turboprop Commuter & Regional aircraft to obtain the optimum configuration and flight profile of such aircraft for operation over a given stage length. Generalized cost of travel incurred by a passenger for air travel between two cities is considered as the objective function to be minimized. Generalized cost is assumed to consist of four cost terms, viz., access cost, flight cost, time cost and airport cost. A computational methodology was developed for the estimation of these cost terms for short-haul air travel, as a function of 17 design variables and nine constraints. A simulated annealing optimization method was coupled to this methodology and a case study for short-haul business travel in India was carried out. A modified optimization strategy was adopted to reduce the overall computation time required. The results obtained in this case study are discussed in the paper.