Optimization problems in many industrial applications are very hard to solve. Many examples of them can be found in the design of aeronautical systems. In this field, the designer is frequently faced with the problem of considering not only a single design objective, but several of them, i.e., the designer needs to solve a Multi-Objective Optimization Problem (MOP). In aeronautical systems desi...

This work is an example of application of nonlinear programming to a problem of three-dimensional trajectory optimization for multistage launch vehicles for geostationary orbit missions. The main objective is to minimize fuel consumption or equivalently to maximize the payload. The launch vehicle considered here, Europa-II, consists of 5 thrust phases and 2 coast phases. Major parameters of the...

This paper presents a method of transforming aerodynamic datasets generated in Aerodynamic Preliminary Analysis System (APAS) into parametric equations which may subsequently be used in a multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) environment for analyzing aerospace vehicles. APAS is an analysis code which allows the user to create a simple geometric model of a vehicle and then calculate the a...