Aircraft performance analysis in conceptual design phase based on system-of-systems simulations

To obtain a competitive design in aircraft conceptual design phase, this paper propose an aircraft performance analysis method based on system-of-systems (SoS) simulations. The analysis process includes design space exploration and mission effectiveness analysis and the stochastic nature in SoS mission is captured based on a Monte Carlo method. Meanwhile as an example, the performance of UAVs which are applied in earthquake search and rescue SoS is analysed based on SoS simulations. The results show that the level of aircraft performance which leads to an optimum SoS effectiveness could be designed below the maximum performance. And it is necessary to apply SoS simulations into aircraft conceptual design phase to help designers optimize aircraft performance.