Collaborative approach to launch vehicle design

Collaborative optimization is a new design architecture specifically created for large-scale distributed-analysis applications. In this approach, a problem is decomposed into a user-defined number of subspace optimization problems that are driven toward interdisciplinary compatibility rind the appropriate solution by a system-level coordination process. This decentralized design strategy allows domain-specific issues to be accommodated by disciplinary analysts while requiring interdisciplinary decisions to be reached by consensus. This investigation focuses on application of the collaborative optimization architecture to the multidisciplinary design of a single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. Vehicle design, trajectory, and cost issues are directly modeled in this problem, which is characterized by 95 design variables and 16 constraints. Numerous collaborative solutions are obtained. Comparison of these solutions demonstrates the influence that an a priori accent-abort criterion has on the vehicle design and the distinction between minimum weight and minimum cost concepts. The operational advantages of the collaborative optimization architecture include minimal framework integration requirements, the ability to use domain-specific analyses, which already provide optimization without modification, inherent system flexibility and modularity, a distributed analysis and optimization capability, and a significant reduction in interdisciplinary communication requirements.