Optimization design containing dimension and buffer parameters of landing legs for reusable landing vehicle

Abstract For the landing legs with single air chamber in the buffer structure of the reusable landing vehicle, the geometric topological models and the dynamic model associated with the hard points of the landing legs are established. The geometric constraint relationship in the design of the landing legs is also obtained. The whole vehicle dropping test is conducted, and the test results agree well with that of the simulation model, which validates the dynamic model. Based on the verified model, the effect of hard point positions on the performance of the landing system is analyzed. The multidisciplinary collaborative optimization algorithm and archive-based micro genetic algorithm (CO-AMGA) are used to optimize the design parameters that contain the hard points and the damper. Compared with artificial iteration, the maximum landing impact acceleration response of the vehicle and the buffer struct maximum force are reduced by 30.70% and 14.51% respectively, and the maximum length of retractable pillar decreases by 8.54% while the design margin increases by 69.11%. The proposed optimization method is efficient and can greatly facilitate the design of landing legs.