Theoretical Optimal Trajectories for Reducing the Environmental Impact of Commercial Aircraft Operations

ABSTRACT: This work describes initial results obtained from an ongoing research involving the development of optimization algorithms which are capable of performing multi-disciplinary aircraft trajectory optimization processes. A short description of both the rationale behind the initial selection of a suitable optimization technique and the status of the optimization algorithms is firstly presented. The optimization algorithms developed are subsequently utilized to analyze different case studies involving one or more flight phases present in actual aircraft flight profiles. Several optimization processes focusing on the minimization of total flight time, fuel burned and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions are carried out and their results are presented and discussed. When compared with others obtained using commercially available optimizers, results of these optimization processes show satisfactory level of accuracy (average discrepancies ~2%). It is expected that these optimization algorithms can be utilized in future to efficiently compute realistic, optimal and 'greener' aircraft trajectories, thereby minimizing the environmental impact of commercial aircraft operations.摘要：本研究阐述了一项正在进行中的科研项目的初步成果，该项目旨在开发可执行多学科飞机轨迹优化流程的优化算法。本文首先简要介绍了初始筛选合适优化技术的理论依据，以及当前优化算法的研发状态。随后，依托所开发的优化算法，针对包含实际飞机飞行剖面中一种或多种飞行阶段的不同案例开展分析。本研究针对总飞行时长、燃油消耗量以及氮氧化物（NOx）排放最小化目标开展了多类优化流程，并对其结果进行展示与讨论。与商用优化器所得结果对比后，本研究的优化流程结果展现出令人满意的精度（平均偏差约为2%）。展望未来，本研究所开发的优化算法可用于高效计算具备实用性、最优性且更环保的飞机飞行轨迹，从而降低商业航空运营对环境的负面影响。