Integration of Manufacturing Cost into Structural Optimization of Composite Wings

The manufacturing cost is a significant factor that must be considered in the structural design of a composite wing. A multi-objective optimization method for the tradeoff between manufacturing cost and weight of composite wing structure is developed by integrating the manufacturing cost model into the traditional wing structural optimization. A two-level optimization method is proposed to carry out the tradeoff between manufacturing cost and weight, in which the design variables include both structural layout and dimensions and a cost model is incorporated into structural optimization. The manufacturing cost model for a composite wing and the detail procedure for solving this tradeoff problem are presented. The application of the method to the composite wing structural design of an unmanned aerial vehicle is illustrated to verify the method. The application indicates that the method is able to find the Pareto optimal set of minimum structural weight and manufacturing cost. Based on the Pareto optimal set, one can conduct the tradeoff between manufacturing cost and weight of wing structures.