In view of a continuous increase of computer performance, it is nowadays feasable to use CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis very early in the conceptual design stage, if not the pre-concept phase, of aircraft. This requires the generation of a CAD (Computer Aided Design) model suitable for CFD computations, which is a tedious and time consuming process because a disconnect exists between the geometrical definition required for a CAD model and the limited number of geometry related design parameters defined by the designer. An additional complication to this is the requirement of producing a closed and consistent CAD model suitable for problem setup of CFD computations. The CADac (CAD-aircraft) tool nils this gap by automating the generation of closed and consistent CAD models via the implementation of a parameterized approach to conceptual design. CADac enables therefore to use CFD earlier and to use tools with inter-laced fidelity at the conceptual design phase.

This paper presents a design tool based on computational methods for the aero-structural analysis and optimization of aircraft layouts at the conceptual design stage. The whole methodology is based upon the integration of geometry construction, aerodynamic and structural analysis codes that combine depictive, computational, analytical, and semiempirical methods, validated in an aircraft design environment. The two primary modules are presented: CADac (Computer Aided Design Aircraft) for parametric geometry handling and NeoCASS (Next generation Conceptual Aero-Structural Sizing Suite) for structural sizing and numerical aeroelastic analysis. The aero-structural numerical kernel enables the creation of efficient low-order, high fidelity models which makes particularly suitable to be succesfully used within an MDO framework to drive the optimization tool into the most appropriate direction. Indeed, solving adverse aeroelastic issues like divergence, control surfaces reversal, flutter, increased drag at cruise speed due to structural deformability may require considerable changes in the structural design, limitations in flight envelope or weight penalties. The late discovery of this type of issues may result in significant cost increases and, in some cases, it may even require to actually close the project. In order to overcome the insurgence of these issues, the influence of deformability on flight and handling performances, on structural weight and on design costs needs to be taken into account as early as possible in the design process.

This paper describes a methodology that inexpensively predicts the buffet envelope of new transport airplane wing geometries at the conceptual design stage. The parameters that demonstrate a strong functional sensitivity to buffet onset were identified and their relative effect was quantified. To estimate the buffet envelope of any target aircraft geometry, the method uses fractional change transformations in consort with a generic reference buffet onset curve provided by the authors or the buffet onset of a known seed airplane. The explicit design variables required to perform buffet onset prediction are those describing the wing planform and the wingtip section. The mutually exclusive nature of the method's analytical construct provides considerable freedom in deciding the scope of free-design-variable complexity. The method has been shown to be adequately robust and flexible enough to deal with a wide variety of transport airplane designs. For the example transport airplanes considered, irrespective of aircraft morphology and en route flight phase, the relative error in prediction was found to be mostly within +/-5.0%, with occasional excursions not exceeding a +/-9.0% bandwidth. The standard error of estimate for the lift coefficient at 1.0 g buffet onset at a given Mach number was calculated to be 0.0262.