Optimering av flyghastighet för flygplan

Abstract: Optimization of flight operations is a way to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment and make the use of airspace more effective. Reductions in fuel consumption and flight time are further desired by airlines to minimize operational costs. The flight planning tools of today optimize the vertical profile with the knowledge of wind conditions at different altitudes. Cost optimal speeds are however currently selected by the aircraft computer itself. Because this selection is performed locally and with limited data, e.g., weather, there is reason to believe speeds could be further optimized for an overall lower cost. This work presents a model constructed to optimize speeds through the implementation of modified cost indices along the cruise phase of a flight for minimized cost including fuel and time consumption. First, the effects of different parameters on the economical speed chosen by the aircraft are presented. A brute force approach is then used to establish optimal cost index selection when all possible paths are evaluated. From this, a speed optimizing dynamic programming model is constructed to find optimized cost index paths. Results of the model show reductions in flight costs, presented as either a fuel or a time reduction. Conclusions are derived from the test results to suggest improvements of the model and the next steps for aircraft flight speed optimization.