Conceptual Design & Optimization of High Altitude Airship using Genetic algorithm

This paper presents a methodology for conceptual design of long endurance stratospheric airships and establish a baseline of specifications for a conventional configuration stratosphere airship, according to given performance and operational requirements. The methodology is validated by other design concepts, which previously developed for similar missions. The shape optimization of airship was introduced into the design process, and several optimum objectives can be selected including minimum drag, minimum surface area and minimum weight. Also, a multi-objective function was used to take account of various factors which influence airship subsystems- e.g. aerodynamics, structures, energy and weight- to determine the optimal shape of airship. An algorithm for generating the shape is developed and appropriate mathematical models for subsystems are constructed. Simulation results show the optimized shape gives an improvement in the multi-objective function compared with a reference shape. The baseline specifications of stratosphere airships designed for various shapes by this methodology are presented.