JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT

Vol. 33, No. 6, November-December 1996

Conceptual Design of Helicopters via Genetic Algorithm

William A. Crossley* and David H. Laananenf
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-6106

The genetic algorithm (GA) is a computational model of natural selection and reproduction displayed
by biological populations. The capabilities of GAs as search and optimization methods make them well
suited to perform conceptual design tasks. A GA has been developed and combined with an industry
standard sizing code specifically for helicopter conceptual design. This GA-based program was used to
generate conceptual designs for three helicopter missions. Results of these efforts are discussed, providing
insight into the ability of the GA to perform helicopter conceptual design.
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Nomenclature
= wingspan
K After selection, major aircraft design parameters are sized
CT = thrust coefficient
= main rotor blade chord
CMR
L = binary string length
= fuselage length
If
N = number of individuals pei• population
= ith penalty function
Pi
= probability of occurrence of event x
Hx)
= fuselage width
wf
cr = rotor solidity
Introduction
T HE design process receives much attention in the aero-
space industry. Sophisticated analysis techniques and siz-
ing codes assist with aircraft conceptual design, and numerical
optimization has been introduced to improve designs. Yet,
there has been little attempt to enhance an engineer's capabil-
ity to search through a vast, ill-defined design space to identify
an aircraft configuration appropriate for a particular mission.
This search is still guided by qualitative decisions that are
based largely on the designer's experience. The genetic algo-
rithm (GA) possesses features that make it attractive for use
as a conceptual design methodology.
Aircraft Conceptual Design
In general, aircraft design proceeds from a set of require-
ments to conceptual design, followed by preliminary design,
then detailed design, resulting in a description from which an
aircraft could be manufactured.1,2 Conceptual design addresses
the issues of configuration, arrangement, size, weight, and per-
formance of the aircraft. This conceptual design phase may be
further decomposed into the tasks of selection and sizing.
During selection, new ideas are introduced and discussed by
a team of engineers who then choose one (or a small number)
of these ideas for further development. To date, design teams
have been left to use intuition and creativity to generate and
select ideas for helicopter configurations. Many decisions
about the aircraft rely on qualitative design choices, and so
selection of concepts and configurations is affected by the de-
sign team's experience, personal preferences, and external in-
Received Aug. 26, 1995; revision received June 20, 1996; accepted
for publication Aug. 4, 1996. Copyright © 1996 by W. A. Crossley
and D. H. Laananen. Published by the American Institute of Aero-
nautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission.
*Graduate Student; currently Assistant Professor, School of Aero-
nautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
47907-1282. Member AIAA.
fAssociate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering. Associate Fellow AIAA.
1062
fluences.3 The resulting design may feel right, but may not
have been quantitatively selected as a good design.
to meet required characteristics. Computerized sizing codes al-
low rapid evaluation of the performance and gross weight of
a given aircraft concept for various parameter value combi-
nations. These codes cannot make decisions regarding config-
uration or parameters; they only provide a description for a
given configuration and set of parameters. Sizing code results
are often used to generate a carpet plot, which is then used for
graphical optimization of the aircraft parameters.1
Some work has been reported on coupling numerical opti-
mization routines to existing sizing codes.4 These routines are
calculus-based; they have difficulties with nonsmooth or dis-
continuous functions and often find locally optimal designs.
The inability to simultaneously handle discrete, integer, and
continuous design variables limits these methods to sizing
tools.
Genetic Algorithms
The GA is a probabilistically guided search method, devel-
oped originally to improve programming structures and pro-
gram performance.5 This concept resulted from work by Hol-
land in the 1970s,6 and has since found applications in other
fields, including optimization.7
Genetic algorithms copy the natural selection and reproduc-
tion processes that are displayed in biological populations.
GAs can perform optimization-like tasks, but they differ from
familiar optimization routines in four major ways (adapted
from Ref. 7):
1) GAs work with a coding of the design parameters, rather
than with the actual parameters.
2) GAs use a population-type search. Many points are eval-
uated during each generation, instead of moving from one
point to the next.
3) GAs need only a fitness or objective function value. No
derivatives are necessary.
4) GAs use probabilistic choices, rather than deterministic
rules, to find new points with likely improvement.
For details of the underlying theory of genetic algorithms,
readers are referred to Goldberg's text7 as an introductory
source.
Rationale for a Genetic Algorithm in Helicopter
Conceptual Design
Currently, helicopter conceptual design is a time-consuming,
multistep process. Many engineers are involved in both selec-
tion and sizing; coordinating meetings, etc., can be expensive
in terms of both time and money. By using a GA as developed
in this effort, a designer might determine both an appropriate
configuration and a combination of parameters for a helicopter
in less time and for lower cost than the current process.
 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN
The GA was chosen for use in helicopter conceptual design
for three reasons. The first is the GA's ability to simultaneously
consider continuous, integer, and discrete design variables.8
The second relates to the GA's search properties, which allow
for complex design spaces. Thirdly, the search from a popu-
lation of points, rather than from a single point, reflects the
concept of parallel design efforts.
The GA uses a coding of the design variables; generally, a
string of binary numbers is used as a chromosome to repre-
sent a design. This binary coding allows representation of
continuous, integer, and discrete variables. Incorporating se-
lection-type variables in the binary string, the GA uses fitness
values to quantitatively make selection decisions. For ex-
ample, the helicopter configuration itself (e.g., a single main
rotor or a tandem rotor configuration) could be considered as
a discrete design variable along with continuous design var-
iables. In this manner, the GA conducts selection and sizing
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simultaneously.
Aerospace optimal design work has yielded promising re-
sults, but has focused on parametric sizing problems because
of numerical optimization routine limitations. The helicopter
conceptual design space eludes simple description of its mo-
dality, continuity, or convexity. Because it does not require
gradients and has no requirement for continuity, the GA can
be used as a global optimizer of such complex functions.9
Genetic algorithms search through the design space using a
population of points, rather than proceeding from point to
point. The population contains many different possible designs
simultaneously; in essence, these designs are evaluated in par-
allel. Studies of engineering designers suggest that they tend
to approach problems using a single-concept strategy, contin-
ually reworking one design until either the requirements are
satisfied or the concept proves futile.10 Detrimental results of
this strategy may include spending time on a futile concept or
ignoring a more promising solution. Evaluating several designs
at once may allow consideration of designs that would other-
wise never have been investigated.
The GA presents some challenges for application to heli-
copter design, particularly if the GA is viewed as a true opti-
mization method. One author has stated, "Traditional genetic
algorithms, though robust, are generally not the most success-
ful optimization algorithms on any particular domain." 11 Fig-
ure 1 is a graphical representation of this concept. Using a
guided probabilistic search, the GA does not stop at local op-
tima and can handle mixed variable types, at the cost of many
function evaluations. Since no gradient information is known,
the GA cannot guarantee convergence. In this sense, the guar-
antee of optimality is traded for the ability to globally search
a complex domain. Although the GA may be less effective as
a true optimization method, it can be quite efficient as a tech-
nique to narrow the vast design space to the most interesting
areas, which is a major goal of conceptual design.
Genetic Algorithm
Random Walk
Calculus-Based Method
Problem Domain
Fig. 1 Program efficiency vs problem domain (adapted from
Ref-7).
1063
Genetic Algorithms for Conceptual Design
In current literature, there is little work describing the use
of a GA for aircraft conceptual design. Crispin1213 discusses
application to aircraft design, but uses the GA for sizing of
continuous design parameters. This approach fails to exploit
the advantages of the GA as a search routine; rather, it provides
results similar to traditional approaches. Another reference14
provides a comparison of GA with several other methods for
the parametric sizing of aircraft and finds the GA to be a bit
inferior to some other approaches. However, this work also
fails to exploit the potential of GA in aircraft conceptual design
with regard to selection.
Specifically in the field of rotorcraft, the use of a GA for
design of low-power, low-weight rotor systems using a com-
bination of discrete, integer, and continuous design variables
has been demonstrated.15 Preliminary investigations of GA in
conceptual design of rotorcraft are discussed in Ref. 16.
Rotorcraft Design Genetic Algorithm
To investigate its usefulness in this application, a genetic
algorithm has been developed that appears well suited to hel-
icopter conceptual design.17 Highlights of this GA are dis-
cussed in this section.
Fitness Evaluation
In this study, helicopters were designed with the objective
of minimum gross weight; therefore, the fitness evaluation had
to predict gross weight and account for design constraints
when providing a fitness value. HESCOMP18 was chosen to
provide the basis for the fitness evaluation routine because it
is a widely used helicopter sizing program. To use HESCOMP
with the GA, modifications were made to the input methods,
and code was added to interpret the variables representing air-
craft configuration.
Input files for HESCOMP contain information describing
aircraft geometry, baseline rotor and/or propeller performance,
baseline engine parameters, and the design mission. The ma-
jority of this information remained unchanged in the GA ap-
proach, and so typical HESCOMP input files were created. For
each call made to the sizing code, these files are read, while
information relating to the design parameters of the GA ap-
proach is input from the subroutine calling statement.
The GA approach required additional interpretation of var-
iables representing aircraft configuration. In HESCOMP, an
input variable distinguishes between single main rotor and tan-
dem rotor concepts. Another signals the presence of a wing,
auxiliary propulsion (in this work, a pusher propeller), both,
or neither. These must be set accordingly. Factors for the
weight prediction equations that vary between the tandem rotor
and main rotor concepts must also be changed. Additional
download and drag must be accounted for in the winged de-
signs. For simplicity in this effort, the propeller performance
was treated as a constant propeller (same for all concepts) to
reduce the number of design variables required for the prob-
lem. A four-bladed propeller with an activity factor of 100 and
an integrated lift coefficient of 0.7 was selected as a good
general-purpose propeller.19
Selection Routine
For minimization problems, tournament selection schemes
have become increasingly popular in GA applications. Tour-
nament routines directly compare two individuals' fitness val-
ues and the better value is chosen; there is no problem with
scaling or sign of the function.20 A blind tournament scheme
was used for the helicopter design GA.
To perform the blind tournament selection, all strings rep-
resenting designs of the current generation are placed in a pot,
and a double-elimination tournament is performed. Two can-
didate strings are randomly sampled from the pot without re-
 1064 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN

placement, and the one with the better fitness measure survives
to be copied into the parent pool. Two more strings are then
chosen from the pot, with the better individual receiving a
copy in the parent pool. This process continues until the pot
is empty, which will occur when the parent pool is only half-
full. All of the current population strings are then replaced in
the pot, and the tournament continues until the parent pool is
completely filled.
Crossover Routine
Uniform crossover is used in the helicopter design GA to
form child strings from the parent strings. Here a bit-by-bit
crossover is performed based on the crossover probability, typ-
ically 0.5.21 This leads to essentially L/2 crossover points on
strings of length L22 From a schema processing standpoint, it
might seem that the uniform crossover is a poor method; how-
ever, empirical evidence suggests that this is more exploratory
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to have one crossover per set of parents, since at least one
crossover will occur.
Mutation probability is simply the probability that any bit
in a newly formed child string is switched from its current
value to its binary opposite. This value is generally quite low.
The empirically selected mutation probability of 0.01 for the
helicopter design GA17 agrees with values found in several
reported studies.24'25 Using techniques as discussed by both
Smith26 and Back,27 the mutation rates for this problem should
be in the range
- = — = 0.014 < P(mutation) < - = — = 0.036 (3)
N 74 , L 28
The mutation rate used here falls low of this range, but in Ref.
17 the mutation rate was seen to not have a great impact upon
performance. This result is echoed by both Smith26 and Fo-

than the traditional single-point approach that maintains longer

schemata.21
Mutation Routine
Mutation occurs on an infrequent basis in both nature and
in the GA. After child strings have been formed, each bit is
examined for mutation. When a mutation occurs, the bit is
either switched from a 1 to a 0 or vice versa. This operator is
simple, yet can often force a population out of a nearly static
condition by introducing into the binary strings new patterns
not seen in the current population.
Stopping Criterion
There are several mechanisms for stopping a GA run. Most
appropriate for the helicopter design problem is a criterion that
stops the GA if the best individual in the population does not
improve for several consecutive generations. For this work,
five generations without improvement was used as the crite-
rion.
garty.28
G-Bit Improvement
The G-bit improvement is a gradient-like bitwise improve-
ment approach.7 The GA initiates this microoperator when the
best individual's fitness has not improved for three consecutive
generations. For this individual, the G-bit improvement routine
varies one bit at a time in the chromosome. The single bit
change producing the best fitness string is saved and entered
into the population, replacing the current generation's poorest
member; the idea of a descent method is followed, and the bit-
by-bit swapping and comparison of fitness values is loosely
analogous to a finite difference derivative with respect to each
bit. Genetically, this forces a mutation to introduce into the
population new string patterns that are needed to improve the
best individual. This approach requires additional computa-
tional effort, but it was shown to improve results of the heli-
copter design GA.17

Parameter Values
Generation of Rotorcraft Designs
The GA parameters of population size, crossover probability,
Using a Genetic Algorithm
and mutation probability were chosen empirically to provide With the computer code developed, use of the GA as a con-
good performance for the helicopter design problem. For the ceptual design methodology for helicopters was evaluated. The
helicopter design GA, relative importance of the various pa- GA generated several potential minimum gross weight solu-
rameters was assessed, and the most important parameters tions for three different helicopter design problems. Descrip-
were studied to determine appropriate choices of each param- tions of these problems and the GA results are presented in
eter value. Details of that study are found in Ref. 17. this section.
The population size of 74 used in this work is larger than a
Medium Lift Replacement Helicopter
guideline in Ref. 20, which suggests that, for a string length
of less than 50 bits, a population size of 30 should be used. The medium lift replacement (MLR) helicopter mission 2 9
(The helicopter problem in this research is 28 bits long.) How- involves carrying 24 Marines from a ship to a drop zone on
ever, the optimal population size for a 28-bit string as deter- shore, returning to the ship, and carrying 24 more troops to
mined by Goldberg23 is 88 members, closer to the determined
value of 74. OGE hover,
A uniform crossover probability of 0.5 is used in most of t=5 min,
the literature21,22 and was empirically found to provide the best offload troops
performance for the helicopter design GA.17 With a crossover
probability of 0.5, each bit in the parent strings has a 50% Max ROC
chance of crossing over in the child strings. In this research, Descend
to 3,000 ft,
toSL
the probability that no crossover occurs (e.g., the child strings arrive 50 nmi
are clones of the parents) is the same as that of flipping heads Loiter
(all bits cross over) or tails (no bits cross over) for 28 consec- 40 min
utive coin tosses.
Max ROC Descend
to 1,000 ft toSL
28 9
P(clone) = 2 X 0.5 = 3.725 X 1.0" (1)
/ \
P(at least one crossover) = 1 — P(clone) ^ 1 . 0 (2) Load& Cruise Cruise 50 Repeat
taxi 10 min; at 180 nmi at without
This means that at least one crossover occurs nearly every time then OGE kts 180 kts 40 min
hover 1 min 100 ^ loiter
that offspring strings are created. The traditional probabilities
for a single-point crossover are usually 0.95-l.OO.24'25 Results nmi
of Eq. (2) are similar to the traditional single-point requirement Fig. 2 MLR helicopter amphibious troop lift design mission.
 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN 1065

the drop area without refueling. Figure 2 illustrates the mis-
sion. Using this mission allowed comparison with an industry
design study.29
In this exercise, the GA simultaneously evaluates two dis-
crete variables representing the helicopter configuration and
engine performance map, two integer variables delineating the
number of engines and number of rotor blades, and five con-
tinuous variables defining rotor tip speed, disk loading, wing
loading (if applicable), wing aspect ratio (if applicable), and
maximum blade loading.
Eight different concept variables are mapped into binary
strings as listed in Table 1. Also, three engine performance
maps were used as discrete variables, as presented in Table 2.
Note that the binary code requires an even number of mapping
relationships, resulting in a redundant mapping of the GLC-38
engine. In this situation, the redundant mapping will introduce
some bias in the initial, randomly generated population. This
first population will likely have more designs using the GLC-38
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Maximum and minimum values were chosen after experi-
menting with variable ranges expanded from those used in
previous work.16 A design from Ref. 16 was selected, and each
variable was varied across a wide range in a sensitivity study-
like approach. Gross weight was calculated using HESCOMP
for each variation examined. The ranges chosen for this GA
research were such that the minimum weight designs of the
sensitivity study fell between the maximum and minimum val-
ues listed in Table 3.
Using this mapping, a design for a winged, single main rotor
helicopter (001), with a tip speed of 720 ft/s (0110), disk load-
ing of 12.5 lb/ft2 (1101), wing loading of 300 lb/ft2 (1100),
wing aspect ratio of 6.0 (0100), maximum blade loading of
0.185 (0110), two engines (0), five-bladed rotor (10), and a
T406 engine map (00) would be represented by the concate-
nated string:

engine performance map; however, this bias is soon overcome "001|0110|1101|1100|0100|0110|0|10|00"

if poor fitness values result for designs that use this engine
performance map. where " | " indicates the concatenation location; it is not ac-
Integer and continuous variables are mapped in a similar tually present in the binary chromosome. This chromosome
manner, but, because the GA works with a coding of the var- contains 28 bits; using binary coding, 228 or 268,435,456 dif-
iable value, all variables are actually discretized. Integer var- ferent parameter combinations exist in the design space.
iables are discretized with a resolution of 1 between values, The MLR helicopter must satisfy the following require-
while continuous variables may be discretized to any desired ments: 1) 180-kn cruise speed, 2) 24-troop carrying capacity,
resolution. For the helicopter design problem, continuous var- 3) spot factor limit of 1.4 times that of the CH-46, 4) four-
iables were mapped to short string lengths with coarse reso- quadrant suppressive fire, 5) 10,000-lb external pay load ca-
lution. Longer string lengths would provide better resolution, pacity, and 6) a 1.155-g sustained maneuver at 180 kn (cor-
but would require longer processing time and more computa- responding to a 30-deg bank turn) under maximum continuous
tional memory. Table 3 presents the integer and continuous engine power.29
variables with their minimum and maximum values, resolution Most of these requirements are satisfied by appropriate en-
between values, and binary string length. In this representation, tries in the HESCOMP input files. The 180-kn cruise speed is
a binary number of zero maps to the minimum variable value. used for both sizing aircraft parameters and calculating mission
fuel required. Similarly, the HESCOMP input file specifies di-
Table 1 Mapping of helicopter concept variables to mensions of a fuselage necessary to carry 24 troops. External
binary strings payload capability is considered when sizing engines and
transmissions, and the sustained maneuver is considered when
Binary string Aircraft configuration
sizing the rotor and the wing (if present).
000 Single main rotor The four-quadrant suppressive fire requirement is difficult to
001 Single main rotor with wing quantify in the context of the GA-based approach. Accounting
010 Single main rotor with propeller for additional weight to reflect guns and turrets is accom-
011 Single main rotor with wing and propeller
100 Tandem rotor
plished through appropriate entries in the HESCOMP input
101 Tandem rotor with wing files. Actual lines of fire would need to be determined through
110 Tandem rotor with propeller a more detailed drawing of the helicopter fuselage geometry,
111 Tandem rotor with wing and propeller which is not practical for the GA application.
The spot factor requirement restricts the geometry of the
helicopter to allow for transport and storage on Navy ships.
Table 2 Mapping of engine Typically, spot factor is based on the stored position of a heli-
performance maps to copter and is calculated from drawings of the helicopter's out-
binary strings line placed on the decks of carrier ships. Because this capa-
Binary bility is limited in the GA-based design code, two constraints,
Engine
string map one on fuselage length, and one on fuselage width and wing
span, are used to reflect this concern.
00 T406 turboshaft The requirements state that the spot factor of the MLR he-
01 T64 turboshaft
10 licopter must not exceed 1.4 times the spot factor of the
GLC-38 turboshaft CH-46E. Because spot factor is based partially on the projected
11 GLC-38 turboshaft area of the helicopter, the values of maximum length and width

Table 3 Integer and continuous variable to binary string mapping parameters for
helicopter conceptual design problem
Minimum Maximum String length,
Variable, units value value Resolution bits
Tip speed, ft/s 690.0 765.0 5.0 4
Disk loading, lb/ft2 6.0 13.5 0.5 4
Wing loading, lb/ft2 150.0 337.5 12.5 4
Wing aspect ratio 4.0 11.5 0.5 4
Maximum blade loading, Cr/cr 0.155 0.230 0.005 4
Number of engines 2 3 1 1
Number of blades 3 6 1 2
 1066 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN

Table 4 GA-generated designs of the MLR helicopter

Tip Disk Wing Wing Blade Number Gross Folding
Helicopter speed, loading, loading, aspect loading, of weight, penalty,
Run configuration ft/s lb/ft2 lb/ft2 ratio CTI(T engines lb lb
1 Tandem, wing 765.0 11.0 150.0 6.5 0.205 2 43,227 169
2 Tandem, wing 765.0 11.5 150.0 6.5 0.200 2 43,278 170
3 Tandem, wing 765.0 11.5 150.0 6.0 0.205 2 43,237 148
4 Tandem, wing 760.0 11.5 150.0 6.0 0.205 3 43,249 148

for the MLR helicopter were approximated by \ / L 4 times the Table 5 Industry design team and GA-generated MLR
length and width of the CH-46E.30 helicopter designs
To enforce the constraint on length of the fuselage, the fol- Design Configuration Gross weight, lb
lowing penalty function was used:
Design t e a m - 1 Single 56,149
Design t e a m - 2 Tandem 58,028
30 max{0, [lf - if single rotor
1- Design t e a m - 3 Single, wing, propeller 53,419
\ 3 0 . 0 max{0, [// ~ ^©CH^E]}2 if tandem rotor
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GA-1 Tandem, wing 43,227

(4) GA-2 Tandem, wing 43,278
GA-3 Tandem, wing 43,237
A tailboom on single rotor configurations could be folded to GA-4 Tandem, wing 43,249
reduce the aircraft's stored length, but a tandem fuselage that
exceeds this length could not be folded and is penalized more
severely for violating this constraint. quire low power in hover. Tip speed impacts the weight pre-
In a similar approach, a two-level penalty function enforces diction of rotor systems and drive components as well as hover
the width constraint: performance, and a higher tip speed results in lower weight.
Low wing loading on these helicopters results in fairly large
1 I025 max{0,
=" [25.0 [b -
max{0, [w -
w

f
VT^CV^CH^E]}2
VL^CV^CH^E]}2
if K > wf
else
(5)
Wings would provide advantages for maneuverability and
high-speed flight, but could negatively impact the aircraft's
spot factor. Wings can be folded, although the associated
mechanisms would add weight to the aircraft; hence, the pen-
alty for folding wings is less stringent than the penalty for
fuselages whose width cannot be reduced by folding.
Two additional, configuration-based constraints on the de-
sign space concern the number of rotor blades and auxiliary
propulsion devices. Allowing five- or six-bladed rotors for a
tandem configuration would present challenges in blade over-
lap and intermeshing. Accordingly, a tandem configuration
must be restricted to no more than four blades per rotor.
The auxiliary propulsion device constraint is two-part. First,
because mounting a pusher propeller on a tandem rotor con-
cept would block access to a rear ramp door, the auxiliary
propulsion for a tandem rotor MLR helicopter must be
mounted on the wing. Second, this will require two propellers
for yaw balance, so that a tandem rotor with auxiliary propul-
sion concept must have a wing and two propellers. Retaining
the constant propeller notion, each propeller on a tandem con-
cept has one-half the area of the single propeller; in this way,
.the two smaller propellers will require the same amount of
power to produce the same total thrust as the single propeller.
These configuration-based constraints are enforced using a
method that was developed for this problem based on the idea
of sex-limited inheritance.17
Because the GA relies on stochastic processes, a random
number generator is required. In the helicopter design GA, a
pseudorandom number generator using a user-input seed num-
ber provides a list of random numbers; the same seed always
results in the same sequence of random numbers. To account
for this, four different seeds were used to initialize the GA.
The resulting GA-based designs are presented in Table 4. All
of the designs are similar; in fact, all have four-bladed rotors
and use the GLC-38 engine map. Also, the calculated gross
weights (which include the penalty for folding requirements),
cover a range of only 50 lb. For conceptual design, these dif-
ferences are negligible.
These designs seem to follow conventional design theory
for large high-speed helicopters. The tandem rotor designs re-
area wings, but the wings, while creating download for hover,
off-load the main rotors in forward flight and make both the
bank turn and the 180-kn cruise speed possible without aux-
iliary propulsion devices. The selection of high values for max-
imum blade loading provides an increased maneuver capabil-
ity. The GLC-38 engine map reflects selection of the most
modern of the engines available.
Reference 29 details the effort of industry engineers to de-
sign a helicopter to meet the MLR requirements. Typical of
the process used across the rotorcraft industry, a team of en-
gineers first participated in a brainstorming session to generate
potential configurations. These concepts were then subjectively
evaluated for their suitability in a MLR helicopter design. As
a result of these evaluations, the design team chose three con-
cepts to pursue with further analysis: 1) a single main rotor,
2) a single main rotor with wing and auxiliary propulsion, and
3) a tandem rotor. They then constructed carpet plots to de-
termine minimum-weight helicopter solutions for each of the
three concepts, among which the lightest-weight solution be-
came the best approach concept. In the industry study, the
single main rotor with wing and auxiliary propulsion was se-
lected as this concept.
The design space covered by the GA includes many of the
concepts proposed by the industry design team during their
brainstorming session, yet the GA-generated designs are dif-
ferent from the industry team's selected concepts. Designs
from the industry study were evaluated using the GA fitness
evaluation version of HESCOMR Predicted gross weights of
the industry design team designs and the GA designs are pre-
sented in Table 5.
Using the same evaluation method for all seven designs, it
would appear that the GA has selected better designs than the
human designers. Reference 29, however, reports different pre-
dicted gross weights for the industry designed helicopters from
those in Table 5. These differences can be traced in part to
different modeling approaches; most notably, the GA makes
use of the short form aerodynamic modeling18 of the main
rotors while the industry team calculated rotor performance
using more comprehensive analyses, implying that the rotor
performance used in the industry studies is better at high for-
ward-flight speeds, resulting in lower predicted gross weights.
The GA approach for helicopter design required one fitness
evaluation per individual for each generation; for this work
there were 74 individuals per generation. In addition, each G-
 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN
Table 6 Computational effort for MLR
design runs
G-bit Fitness
Run Generations improvements evaluations
1 26 1 1952
2 47 3 3562
3 60 4 4552
4 48 1 3580
46,000 j
1 sion conducted at 4000 ft, 95°F).
45,500 +
£f
00
We
alue
45,000 4-
> 8
s? - 8 44,500 4-
£ O
Downloaded by Universitats- und Landesbibliothek Dusseldorf on October 2, 2013 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/3.47058
Fitn
raft
44,000 4-
o Px = 1000 max[0, (18 - cMR)f
»-.
< 43,500 4-
43,000 4-
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Generation
Fig. 3 Generation history for run 1, MLR design.
bit improvement requires additional evaluations equal to the
number of bits in the string, in this ease 28. Table 6 includes
information about the number of generations, G-bit improve-
ment attempts, and total fitness evaluations for the MLR design
runs.
The number of fitness evaluations includes both feasible and
infeasible designs. In fact, the feasibility of intermediate de-
signs is not particularly meaningful. Because the GA uses a
population-based search, both infeasible and feasible designs
may be present within any given generation. Binary strings
representing infeasible designs may contain some information
still useful to the search. For example, a winged tandem rotor
configuration that violates the width constraint for spot size
will be infeasible, but the information in this design string,
particularly the configuration information, is certainly useful,
so that evaluation is still necessary.
It is also possible to track the generation history of the GA
runs. The minimum fitness value for each generation, including
the initial 0th generation, is plotted in Fig. 3 for run 1, and
the overall trend is similar for the other three runs of the GA.
The best design rapidly improves over the first several gen-
erations; refining the design takes place over the remaining
generations.
AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter
A simplified version of the AH-64A Apache attack helicop-
ter design mission was used to provide a comparison with an
existing, production aircraft. This mission involves several
cruise segments at different speeds to a prescribed range, the
firing of weapons and a return cruise, as illustrated in Fig. 4.
The design variables used for the AH-64A problem are sim-
ilar to those used for the MLR problem. All variables use the
same mapping scheme as used for the MLR helicopter, with
the exception of the engine performance map. The Apache
uses the T700-GE-700 engines in its production version, and
so this engine provides the sole performance map in the GA
approach. For the seven remaining variables, the chromosome
length is 26 bits.
The AH-64A had several constraints imposed on the design
space during development. As before, many of the perfor-
mance requirements are satisfied through appropriate inputs to
the HESCOMP sizing code. One constraint not addressed in
1067
Attack
Cruise Cruise **&**
20nmi 12.5 nmi f"^^}
at 40 kts atl50kts V ~ \
•-—» •—-#—igf •——-•
Cruise Cruise S2> Cruise at
21.3 nmi 20.0 nmi NOE flight 105.7 kts
at max at 100 kts and hover 30min
throttle 25 min
-*• 73.8 nmi »»
Fig. 4 Simplified AH-64A attack helicopter mission (entire mis-
this manner involves ballistic tolerance. This requires that the
main rotor have a minimum chord of 18 in. so that the rotor
can provide lift and maneuverability after being hit by a spec-
ified projectile. This constraint is applied to the fitness function
through the use of a penalty function expressed as
(6)
The Apache design problem does not experience the same
configuration-related constraints as the MLR design problem.
To provide a large design space, both single main rotor and
tandem rotor concepts are included. Because a tandem rotor
concept for an attack helicopter does not need a rear loading
ramp, all eight concepts are viable alternatives for the helicop-
ter. Furthermore, the need to place two propellers on the wing
of a tandem attack helicopter is not necessary. However, the
constraint on the maximum number of rotor blades on tandem
concepts is still required and is enforced by the sex-limited
inheritance approach.
Four designs for the Apache attack helicopter were gener-
ated using the GA-based code as summarized in Table 7; all
four designs are the same. Values for wing loading and aspect
ratio are represented in the binary strings of these designs, but
they have no meaning for a concept without a lifting wing.
The design variables and predicted gross weight of the
AH-64A Apache using the GA fitness evaluation routine are
also presented in Table 7. No penalty is included in the gross
weights as all designs satisfied the ballistic tolerance con-
straint.
The GA-generated designs appear to be better (lighter-
weight) designs for meeting the simplified mission than the
actual helicopter. The GA designs have significantly higher
rotor tip speeds than the AH-64A and have only three rotor
blades, compared with the Apache's four. A constraint on tip
speed to reduce acoustic signature might have kept the GA-
generated designs closer to 726 ft/s. The ballistic tolerance
constraint has forced the design to a three-bladed rotor. To
allow for better high-speed flight and maneuverability, the
maximum blade loading value is at the high end of the range
in the GA-generated designs. A four-bladed rotor version of
the GA designs would not provide a ballistically tolerant rotor.
The weight of the actual AH-64A equipped to meet the mis-
sion used in this exercise has a gross weight of 14,840 lb,
which is below that predicted using the GA fitness methodol-
ogy. This same effect was seen in comparison of the MLR
designs, probably caused in large part to modeling assumptions
used in the GA, such as the short-form rotor representation or
the statistical weight predictions.
Computational effort was measured for the AH-64A design
runs in number of generations, member of G-bit improvements,
and total fitness evaluations, which are presented in Table 8.
The generation history of the best individual is similar to
that seen in the MLR design case. All four AH-64A runs ex-
hibit similar behavior; Fig. 5 presents this history.for run 1.
High-Speed Attack Helicopter
A high-speed attack helicopter mission31 without a counter-
part either existing or in study by industry allows for a view
 1068 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN

Table 7 GA-generated designs of the AH-64A helicopter

Tip Disk Blade Number Number Gross
Helicopter speed, loading, loading, of of rotor weight,
Design configuration ft/s lb/ft2 CT/cr engines blades lb
GA1-4 Single 765.0 8.0 0.230 2 3 15,743
AH-64A Single 726.0 8.1 0.155 2 4 17,431

Table 8 Computational effort for AH-64A Constraints on design variables are imposed on the attack
design runs helicopter for various operational considerations. Noise con-
G-bit Fitness cerns limit the main rotor tip speed of the attack helicopter to
Run Generations improvements evaluations remain at or below 725 ft/s. Operating from an unimproved
base necessitates an upper limit on disk loading of 15 lb/ft2 to
1 and 3 20 1506 produce an acceptable downwash environment. These con-
2 19 1532 straints could be handled by placing an upper limit on the
4 24 1876
range of design variables in the variable mapping. In fact, for
this problem, the disk loading constraint is always satisfied,
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because the upper limit on this variable is mapped to 13.5

16,150 y lb/ft2. The constraint on tip speed is imposed via the sex-lim-
16,100 + ited inheritance approach, limiting the maximum value to 725
16,050 | • ft/s.
OX)
Four designs for the high-speed attack helicopter were gen-
16,000 + erated by the GA. These designs are similar; all four have two
15,950 4- engines that use the GLC-38 engine map. Designs from runs
" S 15,900 | 3 and 4 are identical. All designs are summarized in Table 9.
Gross weights do not include penalties, as the ballistic tolerr
15,850 + ance constraints are satisfied.
15,800 + • • • These designs appear reasonable for a high-speed attack hel-
icopter. The single main rotor allows for a smaller fuselage
15,750 +
(less drag) than the tandem rotor concept. A lifting wing en-
15,700 4-^- I • 1 ables the helicopter to meet the maneuver requirements with-
+- +- +- -+
0 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 out needing a large engine. The same is true for the auxiliary
propulsion* which allows for the 200-kn dash capability. Tip
Generations speed impacts both hover performance and weight prediction,
Fig. 5 Generation history for run 1, AH-64A design. with a higher tip speed resulting in lower weight; therefore,
the maximum allowable tip speed is chosen. The wings have
Attack
reasonably large area, but the wing loading of these designs is
targets higher than that of the AH-56A Cheyenne32 (the only single
main rotor helicopter with a lifting wing and auxiliary forward
NOE& J^C NOE& propulsion ever built to specifically meet an attack mission) at
Hover / \ Hover about 140 lb/ft2. The higher values of maximum blade loading
Cruise at 99% 10 min U V 10 min provide good maneuverability. A six-bladed rotor satisfies the
best range ballistic tolerance constraint at lower weight than a rotor with
velocity
,„_,* fewer blades possessing the same high solidity required for
maneuverability. The GLC-3 8 performance map again reflects
]~-
•
Takeoff
Dash at
200 kts
Cruise at 99%
best range
velocity 1 •
Hover
choice of the most modern engine.
Expense of the GA runs is measured as in the previous two
& hover &land
2.5 min 2.5 min cases. Table 10 summarizes these values. A generation history
for run 1 of the attack helicopter problem is displayed by Fig.
m 89 | — • 7. This behavior is exhibited by all four runs and is similar to
nmi nmi nmi the behavior seen in the previous two problems.
Fig. 6 High-speed attack helicopter mission (entire mission con-
ducted at 4000 ft, 95°F).
Summary and Conclusions
The work presented in this article leads to several conclu-
into how the GA would approach a new design problem. This sions about genetic algorithms and their role in conceptual
mission, illustrated in Fig. 6, involves carrying 1274 lb of am- design of helicopters. Most notably, it has been demonstrated
munition from a forward base of operations and attacking that the GA can generate reasonable conceptual designs of he-
ground targets behind the combat front. Requirements for this licopters.
mission include a 200-kn dash speed, a 4-g transient maneuver
capability, and a 2-g sustained maneuver capability, all of
which exceed abilities of existing attack helicopters. Fitness Evaluation
The design variables used for this problem are the same as To perform its search through a design space, the GA must
those used for the MLR problem, the chromosome length for have a numerical fitness value, which becomes the sole arbiter
the attack helicopter is 28 bits. of life or death during selection. As with any search or opti-
As in the case of the AH-64A helicopter, a ballistic tolerance mization approach, intangible or unaccounted concerns will
constraint is applied through the penalty function given in Eq. not be reflected in the designs chosen as the best. In this article,'
(6). The attack helicopter problem has the same configuration- gross weight has been used in the fitness function, but heli-
related constraints as the AH-64A problem. Potential tandem copter designers also consider factors such as direct operating
rotor designs can have rear-mounted auxiliary propulsion, but cost, reliability and maintainability, manufacturability, etc.,
must satisfy the constraint on number of rotor blades. when selecting the best designs.
 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN 1069

Table 9 GA -generated designs of the attack helicopter

Tip Disk Wing Wing Blade Number Gross
Helicopter speed, loading, loading, aspect loading, of rotor weight,
Run configuration ft/s lb/ft2 lb/ft2 ratio CTI(T blades lb
1 Single, wing, propeller 725.0 9.5 175.0 5.0 0.230 6 21,836
2 Single, wing, propeller 725.0 10.5 200.0 5.0 0.220 6 21,849
3 and 4 Single, wing, propeller 725.0 9.5 162.5 4.5 0.230 6 21,807

Table 10 Computational effort for the attack Similarly, the design space cannot be expanded during the
helicopter design runs search. Specified ranges of continuous and integer variables
G-bit Fitness also cannot be exceeded. This prevents the GA from examin-
Run Generations improvements evaluations ing a value outside the specified variable range that may result
in a lower weight design. In this sense, the GA and other
1 27 2 2054 optimization approaches are equally limited.
2 35 3 2674
The requirement for the fitness evaluation to equally eval-
3 37 2 2794
4 28 1 2100
uate different concepts restricted the design space in this article
to only those concepts that HESCOMP can evaluate. Concep-
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tual design of other aircraft may be automated through the use

23,600 of a GA, given appropriate means to evaluate design fitness.
T

23,400
l | 23,200 \
J ^ 23,000
> 8 22,800 l*
8 O 22,600 f
£ "g 22,400
J 22,200
^ 22,000 4- •'•«
21,800 1 ' 1' I • 1 i ,ttmnn*t»t
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
Generation
Fig. 7 Generation history for run 1, attack helicopter mission.
To accurately generate designs, the GA must have unbiased
fitness values for all design points in the space. Biases of the
fitness evaluation programmer can be reflected in the calcu-
lation of the fitness function. For example, HESCOMP uses
statistical equations to predict component weights. Inputs to
these equations vary between the single main rotor and tandem
rotor concepts, and subjective quantities such as advanced
technology factors are frequently used to modify the predicted
weights of components. Just as results in a more traditional
design study could be affected by altering the inputs to the
weight equations, it is certainly possible to affect the results
of the GA. If the GA is to perform selection and sizing, this
is an important concern.
Design Space Definition
The design space for the GA search should include all pos-
sible concepts and variable combinations. At the same time,
the design space needs to be sufficiently small to ensure that
the problem is manageable. The GA user can impact the results
of the search by not including potential variables or concepts.
This is also true for traditional aircraft design, but the inclusion
of selection variables in the GA search problem accentuates
this point.
Demonstrating this idea, the design space for the high-speed
attack helicopter design does not include the coaxial rotor.
While not many exist, a coaxial rotor attack helicopter has
been built to provide both high-speed forward flight and good
maneuverability.33 Excluding the coaxial rotor prohibits selec-
tion of this configuration, which might have provided a lighter-
weight design. For greater applicability to the helicopter in-
dustry, the design space defined for the GA should be increased
from that used in this study to include additional concepts and
a larger number of design variables.
Convergence
Convergence is an important issue for any search method,
especially when helicopter design is posed in the form of an
optimization problem. As seen in the results, the GA may pro-
vide a different best design for each run, possibly causing con-
cern about which generated designs are truly the best.
This characteristic is inherent in the GA because it does not
use gradient information to search through the design space.
While this affords the GA an ability to find good design points
in complex design spaces, it unfortunately leaves the GA un-
able to mathematically prove whether the design it has gen-
erated is an optimum. The ability to search a wide domain
results in a sacrifice of performance as a true optimization
routine. However, generating a different optimum for each run
is much like calculus-based optimization algorithms, which
may find different solutions when using different initial de-
signs. In fact, for some problems, the GA can find the same
optimum design when started with different seeds, as illus-
trated by the AH-64A design case.
Convergence to a best design is also suspect in the typical
conceptual design process. Subjective decision making is com-
mon to reduce the design process time, as discussed in Ref.
29. These procedures provide no information to demonstrate
the optimality of the design, and so the lack of optimality
information from the GA is similar to that of traditional design
methods.
Generally, the GA provides more information about poten-
tial designs in less time than the traditional methods, and so
several different designs generated by the GA may provide
information about what makes good designs or about inaccu-
racies in the design space or the fitness evaluation. Astute de-
signers can use the results of several GA runs to make deci-
sions about the designs by applying criteria not represented in
the calculation of the fitness function. This approach may con-
vert the GA's different seed—different design result into an
asset for conceptual design.
Genetic Algorithm as a Design Methodology
The GA generated designs for all three helicopter missions
using only a definition of the search space; no initial designs
were needed. These solutions follow expected trends and ap-
pear to be reasonable conceptual designs.
In generating designs, the GA has replicated much of the
process conducted by a typical design team without lengthy
and expensive meetings. Humans are not removed from the
design process, however, as definition of the design space and
fitness function require knowledgeable construction by users
of the GA. The range and number of variables that can be
included in the GA approach seem to exceed those typically
investigated by teams during conceptual design. Because of
 1070 CROSSLEY AND LAANANEN
this, the G A may find better designs by evaluating combina-
tions of parameters that the engineers might not consider. For
the M L R and A H - 6 4 A problems, designs generated by the G A
were different than those produced by a more traditional ap-
proach. Based on the G A fitness routine results, these GA-
generated designs are better solutions. It appears that the G A
could increase both the scope and speed of conceptual design
of rotorcraft.
Acknowledgments
A portion of the first a u t h o r ' s support was provided by
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems through a Graduate
Education Fellowship Program at Arizona State University.
The authors would like to thank John Rutherford, Steven Bass,
and Steven Larsen of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems
for providing information for this research.
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