NASA's current research efforts in aircraft design focus on many performance improvement goals such as aircraft weight minimization, aerodynamic drag reduction, and improvements in fuel efficiency of the next generation sub/supersonic commercial aircraft. These design drivers call for investigation of unconventional and revolutionary design concepts. The ZONA/Boeing team's innovative modular design process will enable the physics-based structural, aerodynamic, and aeroelastic analyses of such complex configurations, thereby greatly improving the current knowledge-base of NASA's Fundamental Aerodynamics Program. By performing a detailed design optimization of non-conventional SUGAR aircraft, ZONA/Boeing team will further the knowledge of such structural and configurational concepts as strut-braced high-aspect ratio wings, distributed multiple control surfaces, variable camber continuous trailing edge flaps, etc. The outcome of Phase I + II effort will largely expand NASA's technology portfolio by analyzing the non-conventional aircraft concepts to meet the future performance goals. The research performed in this effort can be easily extended to other relevant ongoing NASA projects, such as X-56A MUTT aircraft wings, HALE aircraft etc.
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