Multidisciplinary Design Optimization for the Conceptual Design of Supersonic Civil Aircraft Based on Full-Carpet Sonic Boom/Aerodynamic Characteristics Employing Differential Evolution

Reducing the sonic boom intensity and increasing the cruise lift-to-drag ratio are pivotal technologies for the successful development of supersonic civil aircraft. To address the limitation that sonic boom research primarily focuses on characteristics directly beneath the flight track, a full-carpet sonic boom and aerodynamic characteristics prediction software (AERO-BOOM) was independently developed. This software is based on the Panel Method, Modified Linearized Theory, the Waveform Parameter Method, and the Stevens Perceived Noise Evaluation Method. AERO-BOOM can efficiently assess the lift-to-drag ratio and the full-carpet sonic boom characteristics of supersonic civil aircraft. Building upon this software, a Multidisciplinary Optimization design platform for full-carpet sonic boom and aerodynamic characteristics of supersonic civil aircraft was established, utilizing an in-house hybrid surrogate-aided differential evolution optimization algorithm. For a supersonic civil aircraft, both fuselage optimization and overall aircraft optimization were conducted. The optimization objectives were the lift-to-drag ratio and the full-carpet sonic boom loudness (FBL). The optimization results demonstrate that fuselage optimization (e.g., employing a downward-cambered nose) increased the lift-to-drag ratio by 0.26 and reduced the FBL by 0.62 PLdB. Furthermore, the overall aircraft optimization (involving modifications to the wing planform and increasing the tail sweep angle) yielded a 1.51 increase in the lift-to-drag ratio and a 1.09 PLdB reduction in the FBL.