Improving the performance of large transport aircraft requires high aspect ratio and lightweight wings, making aeroelasticity an important factor in wing structural design. Active control of aeroelastic loads can be used to improve the aeroelastic behavior of the wing.

Two active load control techniques are considered: Maneuver Load Control (MLC) and Gust Load Alleviation (GLA). GLA controllers are normally tuned using optimal control methods, which use objectives that do not directly relate to load control. In this thesis, it is investigate whether it is also possible to optimize MLC and GLA control parameters concurrently with the wing structure, without the need for optimal control methods.

Optimization studies performed on a representative large transport aircraft wing show that using MLC results in a significant weight reduction, and that concurrently optimized GLA controllers effectively reduce gust loads until they are not sizing anymore.