Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present application of multidisciplinary design optimisation (MDO) in redesign of a small composite aircraft. The redesign process was integration of the turboprop engine in a small composite aircraft. The process requires cooperation of specialists from many disciplines and definition of their tasks. For selected tasks, the authors present results of the calculation. Design/methodology/approach The authors used collaborative optimisation (CO) algorithm to solve the problem. They decomposed this complex process into a set of tasks in different engineering/research disciplines and used techniques and methods specific for each task (research/engineering discipline) to find a proper solution. The computer-aided design (CAD), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) commercial software were used as common tools as well as intentionally developed computer programmes were used as basic tools in some tasks, in particular, for aerodynamic optimisation, calculation of load and stability of aircraft. The exchange of data between separate tasks allowed achieving the main goal of complex design process. Findings Selected optimisation algorithm, CO, proved efficient for the authors’ purposes. The effectiveness of multidisciplinary optimisation depends as much on organisational parameters as it does on technical and technology parameters. Practical implications Multidisciplinary optimisation needs to be an integral part of analysis and design process. The successful optimisation results allowed to meet the requirements and to proceed to the next phase of work – preparing technical documentation for manufacturing the components necessary for integration of the airplane with the new engine. Originality/value Presented results of design process are a valuable example of how to achieve the final goal in an ongoing project.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the preliminary design and optimization of the air-intake system and the engine nacelle. The work was conducted as part of an integration process of a turboprop engine in a small aircraft in a tractor configuration. Design/methodology/approach – The preliminary design process was performed using a parametric, interactive design approach. The parametric model of the aircraft was developed using the PARADES™ in-house software. The model assumed a high level of freedom concerning shaping all the components of aircraft important from the point of view of the engine integration. Additionally, the software was used to control the fulfillment of design constraints and to analyze selected geometrical properties. Based on the developed parametric model, the preliminary design was conducted using the interactive design and optimization methodology. Several concepts of the engine integration were investigated in the process. All components of the aircraft propulsion system were designed simultaneously to ensure their compliance with each other. Findings – The concepts of the engine integration were modified according to changes in the design and technological constraints in the preliminary design process. For the most promising configurations, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computations were conducted using commercial Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solver FLUENT™ (ANSYS). The simulations tested the flow around the nacelle and inside the air-delivery system which consists of the air-intake duct, the foreign-particles separator and the auxiliary ducts delivering air to the cooling and air-conditioning systems. The effect of the working propeller was modeled using the Virtual Blade Model implemented in the FLUENT code. The flow inside the air-intake system was analyzed from the point of view of minimization of pressure losses in the air-intake duct, the quality of air stream delivered to the engine compressor and the effectiveness of the foreign particles separator. Practical implications – Based on results of the CFD analyses, the final concept of the turboprop engine integration has been chosen. Originality/value – The presented results of preliminary design process are valuable to achieve the final goal in the ongoing project.

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The design of real complex objects or systems is characterised by a multi-disciplinary approach. This article presents the methodology of multi-objective and multi-disciplinary design of aerodynamic objects, using optimisation. The in-house software ParaDes using Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines is a key element for the parametric modelling of aerodynamic objects. A multi-objective Genetic Algorithm is used for optimisation. Selected examples of a successful design solution are: (i) the design of a forward swept wing with natural laminar flow; (ii) the design of wings for low-speed turbo-prop small aircraft and small business jet aircraft; (iii) the design of a helicopter fuselage with and without rotor influence. In each case, the definition of the design problem, the objectives and constraints and the basic properties of the evaluation tools are discussed.