Effectiveness of integration of system-level optimization in concurrent engineering for rocket design

Abstract

Integrated concurrent engineering is a method for rapid conceptual design. Previous study has suggested that integration of system-level optimization techniques into integrated concurrent engineering can benefit the design process. In order to confirm and strengthen these results further study was carried out. A two-stage liquid rocket software model was created to serve as a complex multi-disciplinary design problem. Several design session trials were run with the goal of optimizing the rocket in performance and cost. Some design teams used optimization along with integrated concurrent engineering, while others only used integrated concurrent engineering. The results from the two design methods were compared in several metrics, and including optimization alongside concurrent engineering shows a marked benefit in some areas.