Selection of sustainable material for the construction of UAV aerodynamic wing using MCDM technique

Abstract

Flying robots and drones are gaining popularity in various sectors worldwide. In such a scenario, the design and development of these aerial vehicles are very crucial. One of the most challenging parts is the selection of materials for different parts of flying robots. Our main focus is on wings various engineering materials are used for the development of the wing structure of the flying robot. The challenging part in the design and development of a flying robot is its material selection which plays a crucial role. The major requirement of materials selected should be resistance to deformation, high tensile strength, low thermal gradient, vibration resistance, and high strength-to-weight ratio. In this paper, we have taken the five most widely used materials for the development of drones ie Carbon fiber reinforced plastics, Kevlar, Balsa wood, Polystyrene, and aluminum alloy, and have made comparisons among them using the MCDM technique to select the best one out of the five for development of wing structure of flying robots. We have also carried out structural and vibration analysis to check the resistance for deformation and vibration for the wing of a flying robot in the case of different categories of materials used for its wing structure. This will help new researchers select the most efficient material by comparing the widely used materials and taking into account the important material properties based on a survey conducted by key experts in the domain of material engineering. This paper gives a comparative study using the MCDM technique for the selection of material for the wing design of flying robots.