A systematic review of MDO methods applied to launch vehicle design and their contributions to concurrent engineering

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review recent advances in Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) methods applied to the conceptual design of launch vehicles. The data search includes the words: MDO, launch vehicle and concurrent engineering, and it was carried out using the Scopus search engine, with access provided by the Brazilian database Periódicos/CAPES. The authors found that existing MDO publications focus only on optimizing some aspects of the design, mainly related to mass (65.22%), followed by trajectory (19.13%), cost (9.56%), and propulsion (3.48%). In terms of the disciplines involved in each of the studies, the authors typically work with four primary disciplines: trajectory (94%), propulsion (91%), weights and sizing (84%), and aerodynamics (79%). The studies focused primarily on disciplines related to vehicle performance. Cost is mentioned in only 12% of the results, indicating that it is usually considered a secondary aspect of the design. It was expected that the analysis of costs and business models would become more important in the design of launch vehicles, especially with the New Space Economy in full swing. The vast majority of architectures found in publications are still monolithic, and the main technique used to obtain the solution are evolutionary algorithms. In the end, the authors observed that MDO studies do not cover all the disciplines required for the entire lifecycle of launch vehicles, which is a premise of the broader concept of concurrent engineering to include technical, programmatic and support disciplines in its methodology.