Propulsion Sizing Correlations for Electrical and Fuel Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Victor Alulema,Edgar Cando,Dario Rodriguez,Esteban Valencia,Victor Hidalgo

doi:10.3390/aerospace8070171

Victor Alulema, Edgar Cando + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8070171

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Journal: Aerospace	Publication Date: Jun 24, 2021
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: National Polytechnic School

Abstract

Despite the increasing demand of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for a wide range of civil applications, there are few methodologies for their initial sizing. Nowadays, classical methods, mainly developed for transport aircraft, have been adapted to UAVs. However, these tools are not always suitable because they do not fully adapt to the plethora of geometrical and propulsive configurations that the UAV sector represents. Therefore, this work provides series of correlations based on off-the-shelf components for the preliminary sizing of propulsion systems for UAVs. This study encompassed electric and fuel-powered propulsion systems, considering that they are the most used in the UAV industry and are the basis of novel architectures such as hybrid propulsion. For these systems, weight correlations were derived, and, depending on data availability, correlations regarding their geometry and energy consumption are also provided. Furthermore, a flowchart for the implementation of the correlations in the UAV design procedure and two practical examples are provided to highlight their usability. To summarize, the main contribution of this work is to provide parametric tools to size rapidly the propulsion system components, which can be embedded in a UAV design and optimization framework. This research complements other correlation studies for UAVs, where the initial sizing of the vehicle is discussed. The present correlations suit multiple UAV categories ranging from micro to Medium-Altitude-Long-Endurance (MALE) UAVs.

Highlights

At early stages of design, where the airplane layout is not well established yet, a large spectrum of aircraft configurations remains a feasible design option
This section compiles the correlations found for electric propulsion systems, which are based on a previous work [31], and the correlations for fuel-based propulsion systems
Propellers and electronic speed controller (ESC) were not included in this analysis since information regarding these devices is widely available on the open domain and their weight can be neglected when compared with batteries’ or electric motors’ weight [18]

Summary

Introduction

At early stages of design, where the airplane layout is not well established yet, a large spectrum of aircraft configurations remains a feasible design option In this way, the large amount of architectures to be assessed at conceptual and preliminary design phases has encouraged the employment of parametric and semi-empirical models due to their rapid implementation and moderate computational cost while maintaining accurate results [1,2]. The large amount of architectures to be assessed at conceptual and preliminary design phases has encouraged the employment of parametric and semi-empirical models due to their rapid implementation and moderate computational cost while maintaining accurate results [1,2] In this sense, the conception of civil airplanes has historically relied on well documented parametric models, semi-empirical correlations, and technical criteria, which have been derived from statistical data of operative aircraft [3,4,5,6]. Their applicability on the design of other UAV categories (specially medium, small, and micro) could lead to over- or underestimate the aircraft components since UAVs employ different design trade-offs compared with transport aircraft [12]

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