3692. Aircraft Systems Physics-Based Weight Estimation Methods for Conceptual Design
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Paper
Abstract
During the conceptual design phase of an aircraft, details regarding aircraft systems such as the detailed architecture and parts lists are not available. However, weight estimates for aircraft systems are needed very early for aircraft design and performance calculation. Several methods exist to predict system weights and most of these methods are empirical models correlated to top level aircraft parameters such as take- off weight, wingspan, etc. Even if the empirical methods have been sufficiently accurate in the past, they are not suitable for a more sophisticated multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) approach implemented today in Bombardier’s Advanced Design group. In addition, the empirical methods are not valid to predict the effect of new technologies. So called ‘physics-based methods’ are proposed, leading to a better understanding of technology and system architecture choice impact on the aircraft weight.The new weight estimation methods are implemented as integral part of a conceptual aircraft systems sizing framework. This framework enables the development of more mature aircraft concepts without comprising the calculation runtime. The proposed physics based models showed minimal errors when compared to actual data while capturing additional sensitivities that did not exist in previous methodologies. This paper illustrates the methodology for the example of the hydraulic power system.
