Design and validation of a detailed aircraft performance model for trajectory optimisation

Abstract

A key component in flight optimization studies is the aircraft performance model. This must be capable of representing to a high degree of fidelity the performance of the aircraft over its typical flight envelope if meaningful conclusions are to be made from the optimization studies. Flexibility is also required in order to facilitate robust trajectory definition and interoperability with secondary multidisciplinary tools. This paper describes the structure and main features of an Aircraft Performance Model (APM) specifically designed for use within a multi-disciplinary optimization environment. A validation exercise has been carried out against data generated with another aircraft performance model designed using the Base of Aircraft Data coefficients. Climb, cruise and descent phases have been investigated for the comparison. The performance of the aircraft predicted by the two models has been compared and found to compare well, with most cases resulting in less than a 0.5% mean variation between the two models.