Aero-structural numerical analysis of a blended wing body unmanned aerial vehicle using a jute-based composite material

Abstract

Research and development of biocomposites for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) structures have become relevant throughout the last decade, due to their cost and lightweight accompanied with good mechanical properties. Moreover, Blended Wing Body configurations (BWB) have aroused special interest, because of their aerodynamic efficiency, manufacturing simplicity and increased fuel economy. In this context, the present study investigates the strength distribution in a semi-monocoque structure of a blended wing body UAV using a composite material based on pre-load jute fibers. For this aim, a three-dimensional numerical simulation with a unidirectional fluid–solid coupling is implemented in a steady analysis at cruise conditions. The air pressure distribution is calculated using computational fluids dynamics (CFD), which then incorporates the aerodynamic loads within the structural module and using finite element method (FEM) determines the static stress distribution and deformation. The properties and manufacturing characteristics of jute-based composite material used in the numerical analysis were incorporated in the analysis and the numerical model was validated against experimental data. Based on the comparison between the structure built by pre-load jute fibers-based composite material and EPO foam, the results show that the proposed material reduces the deformation in 65% and performs better mechanically.