IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/oropre/v15y1967i2p185-210.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Nonlinear Programming Model for Launch Vehicle Design and Costing

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin C. Rush

    (Research Analysis Corporation, McLean, Virginia)

  • Jerome Bracken

    (Research Analysis Corporation, McLean, Virginia)

  • Garth P. McCormick

    (Research Analysis Corporation, McLean, Virginia)

Abstract

A nonlinear programming model is developed that has as the objective function (to be minimized) total cost of the development, manufacture, and launching of a launch vehicle. Constraints on physical interrelations, basic performance relations, and desired achievements are given as functions of the variables. The variables are physical properties of the launch vehicle such as airframe weight, total inert weight, mass fraction, thrust, propellant weight, length, and other similar properties. The model is for the purpose of assisting in launch vehicle design by generating designs that have minimum cost for selected performance characteristics. Previous work has mostly been in estimating or predicting costs of given designs. This model goes one step further in that it uses cost-estimating relations (CERs) to influence the design. The nonlinear programming models are not convex. The basic model has 25 variables, 34 inequality constraints, and 9 equality constraints. Nonnegativity restrictions hold on all the variables. The nonlinear programming problems have been solved using the sequential unconstrained minimization technique (SUMT).

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin C. Rush & Jerome Bracken & Garth P. McCormick, 1967. "A Nonlinear Programming Model for Launch Vehicle Design and Costing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 15(2), pages 185-210, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:15:y:1967:i:2:p:185-210
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.15.2.185
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.15.2.185
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/opre.15.2.185?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:15:y:1967:i:2:p:185-210. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.