Estimating the Useful Energy of a Launcher’s Pneumatic Launch System UAV

Abstract

The motivation behind solving the issue of estimating the flow parameters of the pneumatic system of a launcher was the need to obtain the take-off energy with a value exceeding 80 kJ. The take-off energy and the initial speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) depends on the pressure drop time in the launcher’s pneumatic system. The aim of the research was to estimate the flow parameters of the trigger system of the UAV launchers in order to achieve the shortest time of its operation. Due to the lack of a description of the selection of pneumatic elements and their flow characteristics in the available literature, the article attempts to analytically describe the air flow through pneumatic units. The trigger system is described using the sonic conductivity and the critical pressure ratio. Due to the lack of numerical data on the flow parameters of pneumatic units, a test stand was designed and constructed to determine these parameters. The values of the sound conductivity and the critical pressure ratio were determined for each of the pneumatic units and for the entire system. The proposed method makes it possible to determine the relationship between the operating time and the values of the flow parameters of the pneumatic launch tube release system. It also provides guidelines for design and technological solutions for the trigger system of any pneumatic launcher.