Design Optimization of Micro Air Launch Vehicle Using Differential Evolution

Aldheeb, Mohammed Abdulmalek; Kafafy, Raed; Idres, Moumen; Omar, Hanafy M.; Abido, Mohammad A.

doi:10.5028/jatm.2012.04020112

Abstract:

In this paper, we have used the differential evolution to optimize the design of a Micro Air Launch Vehicle and its launch trajectory. Since trajectory design of a launch vehicle requires prior knowledge of the masses and propulsion performance parameters of the Micro Air Launch Vehicle, whereas the vehicle design requires prior knowledge of the required velocity (ΔV) to insert the required payload into the target orbit, a two-step optimization cycle was adopted. A Micro Air Launch Vehicle was designed to launch a 20-kg payload into a 400-km circular polar orbit. The preliminary design of the Micro Air Launch Vehicle was conducted given the required ΔV, which was obtained from trajectory optimization, and then applied in mission analysis to obtain the initial masses. These initial masses were used in the vehicle design to get the performance and geometry parameters. The objective function of the Micro Air Launch Vehicle design optimization is to minimize the initial mass under specified constraints on the insertion orbit. The objective of trajectory optimization is to maximize the payload mass under constraints on orbit specifications and design variables. For the 20-kg payload mass, the optimal initial mass is 1267.8 kg and optimal payload is 20.6 kg, which slightly exceeds the mission requirements.

Keywords:
Micro Air Launch; Vehicle design; Optimization; Differential evolution

Full text available only in PDF format.

REFERENCES

Abou EL Ela, A. A. et al, 2011, "Differential Evolution Algorithm for Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch", Electric Power Systems Research, Vol. 81, No. 2, pp. 458-464.
Abido, M. A. and Al-Ali, N. A., 2009, "Multi-objective differential evolution for optimal power flow", International Conference on Power Engineering, Energy and Electrical Drives, 2009. POWERENG09. Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 101-106.
Boltz, F., 2001, "Miniature Launch Vehicles for Very Small Payloads", American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 126-128.
Boltz, F., 2002, " Low-Cost Small-Satellite Delivery System", American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 818-820.
Braun, R. D. et al, 1997, "Collaborative Approach to Launch Vehicle Design", Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 34, No. 4, 1997, pp. 478-486.
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» https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ast.07.004
Fortescue, P. et al, 2003, "Spacecraft Systems Engineering", 3rd Edition, Wiley.
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Isakowitz, S.J. et al, 2004, "International reference guide to space launch systems", 4th Ed., AIAA Inc.
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» https://doi.org/10.1109/iccsa.2007.16
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Storn, R., Price, K., 1996, "Minimizing the real functions of the icec'96 contest by differential evolution", Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 842-844.
Storn, R., 1996, "On the usage of differential evolution for function optimization", Fuzzy Information Processing Society, NAFIPS, 1996 Biennial Conference of the North American, pp. 519-523.
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» http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~stom/code.html
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Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Apr-Jun 2012

History

Received
15 Jan 2012
Accepted
16 Mar 2012

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] Abou EL Ela, A. A. et al, 2011, "Differential Evolution Algorithm for Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch", Electric Power Systems Research, Vol. 81, No. 2, pp. 458-464.

[2] Abido, M. A. and Al-Ali, N. A., 2009, "Multi-objective differential evolution for optimal power flow", International Conference on Power Engineering, Energy and Electrical Drives, 2009. POWERENG09. Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 101-106.

[3] Boltz, F., 2001, "Miniature Launch Vehicles for Very Small Payloads", American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 126-128.

[4] Boltz, F., 2002, " Low-Cost Small-Satellite Delivery System", American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 818-820.

[5] Braun, R. D. et al, 1997, "Collaborative Approach to Launch Vehicle Design", Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 34, No. 4, 1997, pp. 478-486.

[6] Blake, W. B., 1998, "Missile DATCOM user's manual".

[7] Choi, Y C. et al, 2009, "Optimal air-launching rocket design using system trades and a multi-disciplinary optimization approach", Aerospace Science and Technology, doi:10.1016/J.ast.07.004,pp.1-9.
» https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ast.07.004

[8] Fortescue, P. et al, 2003, "Spacecraft Systems Engineering", 3rd Edition, Wiley.

[9] Humble, R. W. et al, 1995. "Space Propulsion Analysis and Design", lst ed., M. A. Hollander, New York, McGraw-Hill.

[10] Isakowitz, S.J. et al, 2004, "International reference guide to space launch systems", 4th Ed., AIAA Inc.

[11] Kafafy, R. et al, 2011, "On The Scaling Laws for Air Launch Vehicles", International Conference on Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering ICMAAE'11, Kuala Lumpur.

[12] Lee, J.W. et al, 2002, "Mission and trajectory Optimization of the Air-launching Rocket System Using MDO Techniques", American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA-2002-5492, pp. 1-11, 9th AIAA/ISSMO Symposium on Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Atlanta.

[13] Lee, J.W. et al, 2007, "Preliminary Design of the Hybrid Air-Launching Rocket for Nanosat", Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, doi 10.1109/iccsa.2007.16, pp. 290-295.
» https://doi.org/10.1109/iccsa.2007.16

[14] Matsuda, S. et al, 2008, "An Affordable Micro Satellite Launch Concept in Japan", AIAA education series, RS6-2008-5004, pp. 1-6.

[15] Omar, H. et al, 2011, "Particle Swarm Optimization of Air Launch Vehicle Trajectory". Canadian Aeronautics and Space Journal, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 115-120

[16] Pegasus User's guide, 2007, approved for public release distribution Unlimited Release 6.0.

[17] Sarigul-Klijn, N. et al, 2005, "Air-launching Earth to Orbit: Effect of launch conditions and Vehicle Aerodynamics", Journal of Space and Rockets, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 569-572.

[18] Storn, R., Price, K., 1995, "Differential evolution - a simple and efficient adaptive scheme for global optimization over continuous spaces", Technical Report TR-95-012.

[19] Storn, R., Price, K., 1996, "Minimizing the real functions of the icec'96 contest by differential evolution", Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 842-844.

[20] Storn, R., 1996, "On the usage of differential evolution for function optimization", Fuzzy Information Processing Society, NAFIPS, 1996 Biennial Conference of the North American, pp. 519-523.

[21] Storn R. et al, Differential Evolution web site from http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~stom/code.html
» http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~stom/code.html

[22] Storn, R. and Price, K., 1997, "Differential Evolution - A Simple and Efficient Heuristic for Global Optimization over Continuous Spaces", Journal of Global Optimization, No. 11, pp. 341-359.

[23] Sutton, G. P. and Biblarz, O., 2010, "Rocket propulsion elements", 8th ed., New York, John Wiley & Sons.

[24] Wong, K. P., Dong, Z. Y., 2005, "Differential Evolution, an Alternative Approach to Evolutionary Algorithm", IEEE, pp. 73-83.

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