Structural Optimization of Payload Fairing Used for Space Launch Vehicles

Abstract

Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) is a system to transport and place the Payloads (PL) such as satellites, experimental tools, and observation robots into desired orbit. PL are transported in Payload Fairing (PLF) that is a part of SLV and protects PL from environmental effects exposed during SLV’s flight. PL capacity is the major criteria in design of SLVs. One option to increase PL capacity of SLV is to minimize PLF weight while protecting the volume allocated for PL. In this study, an Optimization System (OS) is developed to minimize PLF weight while maintaining the PLF structural design strong enough to protect PL from effects such as aerodynamic and inertial loads that emerged from flight conditions. Tabu Search is integrated to the OS to perform optimization. Structural analysis program is integrated to the OS to evaluate the structural strength. It is found that an optimized and structurally appropriate PLF configuration can be selected with Tabu Search integrated OS.