Parametric Study of a Genetic Algorithm using a Aircraft Design Optimization Problem

This work shows how a preliminary aircraft design can be achieved by means of genetic algorithms (GA). The aircraft major parameters are mapped into a chromosome like string. These include the wing, tail and fuselage geometry, thrust requirements and operating parameters. GA operators are performed on a population of such strings and natural selection is expected to occur. The design performance is obtained by using the aircraft range as the fitness function. Different GA parameters and selection methods – fitness and ranking – are tested and their impact on the algorithm efficiency is analyzed. The constraints implementation is also studied.