Aircraft route optimization with simulated annealing for a mixed airspace composed of free and fixed route structures
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
ISSN: 0002-2667
Article publication date: 3 November 2022
Issue publication date: 14 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to create a flight route optimization for all flights that aims to minimize the total cost consists of fuel cost, ground delay cost and air delay cost over the fixed route and free route airspaces.
Design/methodology/approach
Efficient usage of current available airspace capacity becomes more and more important with the increasing flight demands. The efficient capacity usage of an airspace is generally in contradiction to optimum flight efficiency of a single flight. It can only be achieved with the holistic approach that focusing all flights over mixed airspaces and their routes instead of single flight route optimization for a single airspace. In the scope of this paper, optimization methods were developed to find the best route planning for all flights considering the benefits of all flights not only a single flight. This paper is searching for an optimization to reduce the total cost for all flights in mixed airspaces. With the developed optimization models, the determination of conflict-free optimum routes and delay amounts was achieved with airway capacity and separation minimum constraints in mixed airspaces. The mathematical model and the simulated annealing method were developed for these purposes.
Findings
The total cost values for flights were minimized by both developed mathematical model and simulated annealing algorithm. With the mathematical model, a reduction in total route length of 4.13% and a reduction in fuel consumption of 3.95% was achieved in a mixed airspace. The optimization algorithm with simulated annealing has also 3.11% flight distance saving and 3.03% fuel consumption enhancement.
Research limitations/implications
Although the wind condition can change the fuel consumption and flight durations, the paper does not include the wind condition effects. If the wind condition effect is considered, the shortest route may not always cause the least fuel consumption especially under the head wind condition.
Practical implications
The results of this paper show that a flight route optimization as a holistic approach considering the all flight demand information enhances the fuel consumption and flight duration. Because of this reason, the developed optimization model can be effectively used to minimize the fuel consumption and reduce the exhaust emissions of aircraft.
Originality/value
This paper develops the mathematical model and simulated annealing algorithm for the optimization of flight route over the mixed airspaces that compose of fixed and free route airspaces. Each model offers the best available and conflict-free route plan and if necessary required delay amounts for each demanded flight under the airspace capacity, airspace route structure and used separation minimum for each airspace.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is funded as research project by Eskisehir Technical University with grand no 1708F477 and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜB_ITAK) under the National Postgraduate Scholarship Program.
Citation
Aydoğan, E. and Cetek, C. (2023), "Aircraft route optimization with simulated annealing for a mixed airspace composed of free and fixed route structures", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 95 No. 4, pp. 637-648. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-11-2021-0343
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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