Multidisciplinary Optimization and Analysis of Stratospheric Airships Powered by Solar Arrays

Stratospheric airships have much potential in military and commercial applications. Design, analysis and optimization of stratospheric airships involves complex trade-off of different disciplines, and hence a multidisciplinary approach is essential. This paper describes a methodology coupling severa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aerospace 2023-01, Vol.10 (1), p.43
Main Authors: Tang, Jiwei, Xie, Weicheng, Zhou, Pingfang, Yang, Hui, Zhang, Tongxin, Wang, Quanbao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airships
Algorithms
Altitude
analysis
Arrays
Atmosphere
Batteries
Comparative studies
Design
Design optimization
Energy
Layouts
Methodology
Military applications
multidisciplinary optimization
Multinational space ventures
Numerical methods
operating parameters
Parameter sensitivity
Radiation
Sensitivity analysis
Solar arrays
Solar collectors
stratospheric airship
Subsystems
Sun
Wind effects
Wind speed
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Stratospheric airships have much potential in military and commercial applications. Design, analysis and optimization of stratospheric airships involves complex trade-off of different disciplines, and hence a multidisciplinary approach is essential. This paper describes a methodology coupling several disciplines and involving seven design variables to obtain the optimal design of a stratospheric airship powered by solar arrays. A numerical method is established to calculate the output power of the solar array in the optimization process. The optimal solutions are obtained using hybrid algorithms. The methodology can obtain the optimal envelope shape, solar array layout and other general configurations of subsystems. Results show that the methodology was able to achieve a solution with a 19.2% reduction in airship volume compared to the value being part of an arbitrary initial set of airship parameters. In addition, a comparative study is carried out to highlight the importance of considerations of solar array layouts and array circumferential location. Furthermore, detailed sensitivity analysis shows that operating parameters of latitudes, heading angles and average resisting wind speeds have significant effects on the airship design and solar array layouts.
ISSN:2226-4310
2226-4310
DOI:10.3390/aerospace10010043