NONLINEAR MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN OPTIMIZATION USING SYSTEM-IDENTIFICATION AND OPTIMAL-CONTROL THEORY

A novel approach to the art of optimal design of modern Eying vehicles including the application of multiple objective functions and constra ints is presented and should hopefully advance the art of modern aircr aft design. First, the concept of system identification is used to cha racterize non-linear systems in terms of generalized state space coord inates. Next, modern optimal control theory is applied to design concu rrently, the functional elements of an aircraft system. Furthermore, m odal coordinates are used to formulate the equations of motion of the total system so that the computational effort is minimized. The propos ed analytical concept is validated using simple test cases.