Optimization of Nacelle Design and Integration on the Eclipse Business Jet

Using the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ commercial multiphysics software, an optimization study has been conducted to identify an improved nacelle design for the Eclipse business jet. The complete full-sized vehicle was included in the simulations (with flaps up and landing gear stowed). The optimization addressed multiple objectives and constraints, which represent the critical performance criteria. In addition, multiple flight conditions were considered in order to cover all the vital portions of the flight envelope. The optimal design yielded better performance for all objectives at all flight conditions and satisfied the constraints as well. In particular, the cruise drag was predicted to be improved by more than 14 percent compared to the baseline configuration. A follow-up validation effort was conducted to ensure that the results were not due to numerical problems with the analysis. Issues addressed included the impact of turbulence modeling, near-wall spacing, and overall mesh dependency. In all the tests, while there was some fluctuation of absolute values, the relative benefit derived from the best design compared to the original design remained consistent. This proof-of-concept study illustrates that practical design optimization is now within reach for production engineering organizations using commercially available software.