Transactions of Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics
An Optimization Method of Formation Flight for Minimizing Fuel Consumption
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Abstract:
A method for formation flight trajectory optimization was established. This method aims at minimizing fuel consumption of a two-aircraft formation flight， without changing the original trajectory of the leader. Candidate flight pairs were selected from all international flights arriving at or departing from China in one day according to the requirement of the proposed method. Aircraft performance database Base of Aircraft Data （BADA）was employed in the trajectory computation. By assuming different fuel-saving percentages for the following aircraft， pre-flight plan trajectories of formation flight were optimized. The fuel consumption optimization effect under the influence of different trajectory optimization parameters was also analyzed. The results showed that the higher the fuel savings percentage， the longer the flight distance of formation flight， but the smaller the number of formation combinations that can be realized， which is limited by the aircraft performance. The following aircraft flying along the approximate actual flight trajectory can be benefited as well， and the optimal fuel-saving efficiency is related to the expected fuel-saving efficiency of formation flight.
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U8
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