Comparisons for Applications of Two Non-numerical Optimization Algorithms in Aircraft Conceptual Design
两类非数值优化方法在飞机方案设计中的比较研究

Two non-numerical optimization algorithms, genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA), were applied to aircraft conceptual optimization design. The implementation details of these two algorithms were discussed. Optimization experiments were conducted for the same design example comprising simple aircraft scheme analysis models, through which the two algorithms were compared. The experimental results show that both the iteration number and the scheme analysis number required by SA are much greater than GA, while the optimal result of SA is better than that of GA. The issue of low computational efficiency due to large scheme analysis numbers must be settled firstly otherwise these two non-numerical algorithms will be inapplicable to practical aircraft conceptual optimization problems. Comparatively, GA has better application foreground than SA in practical aircraft conceptual optimization.