UAV Aircraft Research Articles

Computational investigations for topology optimization of UAV and small-scale aircraft wings

This study was conducted under the 4R-UAV project. The project is funded by the Latvian Council of Science with the goal of creating an innovative, aerodynamically improved, environmentally friendly, zero waste, and zero emission UAV. For the Circular Aviation 4R (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Redesign) concept, this paper covers two Rs (Reduce and Redesign) aspects of the 4R-UAV project. Topology optimization of structures has gained enormous potential with the advances in additive manufacturing techniques. However, it is still challenging when it comes to conventional manufacturing. Aircraft/UAV wings are conventionally hollow structures and leave almost little or no space for further material removal. It becomes even more complicated when conventional manufacturing limitations are further imposed. Nevertheless, topology optimization is indeed an excellent way of reducing the mass of the structures by keeping the mechanical strength intact. This computational study attempts to implement topology optimization on a small-scale aircraft aluminum alloy wing as well as on a carbon composite UAV wing. In order to ensure the feasibility of not only additive manufacturing but also conventional manufacturing, controlled/limited topology optimization was applied only to the ribs of the wings. It was found that topology optimized wing ribs (aluminum and carbon composite) demonstrated a 20% mass reduction while up to 10% overall mass reduction of the wings was achieved. Moreover, after the topology optimization, the wings demonstrated improved mechanical characteristics and factor of safety. The knowledge learned from this study will be implemented for the topology optimization of the future small-scale 4R-UAV wings which will be mainly manufactured using additive manufacturing.

Reducing Ground Impact Hazards of a Solar UAV Through Modelling and Analysis

The research described was conducted by a student team dedicated to finding sustainable and long-endurance systems and outlines an innovative solar panel UAV aircraft solution. Our prototype demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, while the second aircraft, currently in the design phase, aims to improve performance further and allow for extended self-powered flight time. The sustainable approach of our project addresses the growing need to reduce the environmental impact of transportation technologies. The main objective of this study is to address the requirements of the Specific Category - Civil Drones regulation, promulgated by EASA, regarding the risk associated with the impact of the aircraft on the ground in case of an in-flight failure. To address this issue, we conducted an in-depth analysis of possible failure scenarios and their consequences on the safety of the aircraft and people on the ground. Furthermore, the team developed models for risk assessment to evaluate the risk associated with solar panel UAV operation. To mitigate the risk of impact, we considered using a parachute, the effectiveness of which was analysed using a dynamic model implemented in Simulink. The analysis allowed us to evaluate the semi-controlled descent of the aircraft with the parachute attached, providing valuable information to optimize the safety system further. In conclusion, our study significantly contributes to ensuring the safety of our model in flight and on the ground through ground-impact risk management while promoting the development of sustainable and innovative solutions in the aviation field.

Manufaktur Dan Pemasangan Komponen Avionik Pada UAV Skywalker 1900 Dengan Material Komposit Berpenguat Fiber Carbon

This research is a collaboration between STTKD Yogyakata and Frogs Indonesia, a startup that manufactures flying vehicles, with the aim of making the UAV Skywalker 1900 flying vehicle with Carbon Fiber reinforced composite materials to produce a structure that is stronger than the material commonly used, namely Styrofoam. The initial stage of making the UAV was to work on the Skywalker 1900 UAV design drawings and printed them with 3D printing using PLA Filament, the 3D printing results were then molded using Epoxy resin. From the resulting molding, the structure of the aircraft parts will be made with fiber glass reinforced composite materials using the Vacuum Bagging method. After the structure of the aircraft parts is completed, the electrical and avionic components are installed. The flight test results of the Skywalker 1900 UAV aircraft have a speed of around 15 m/s to 20 m/s, the weakness of this aircraft design is that it is still difficult to control, from the existing analysis this is caused by the aerofoil on the horizontal stabilizer causing lift in the tail of the aircraft of 1 newtons.

Study on Lightweighting and Manufacturing of UAV Aircraft Using 3D Printer

Study on Lightweighting and Manufacturing of UAV Aircraft Using 3D Printer

COMPARISON OF SANDWICH COMPOSITE WING STRUCTURE WITH BALSA WOOD (CASE STUDY OF UAV AIRCRAFT FIXED WING VTOL VX-2)

UAV aircraft with a fixed wing configuration with multi-rotor are aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). In designing the wing structure of aircraft, the weight factor and the strength of the wing structure are factors that need to be considered. The use of sandwich composite materials on UAV wings is expected to be able to meet the requirements of UAV aircraft, namely having a light weight, having high rigidity and strength. In this study, a comparative analysis the strength of the sandwich composite wing structure with the balsa wood wing of the UAV VTOL VX-2 aircraft was carried out. The steps taken are to model the composite wing structure of sandwiches and balsa wood using CATIA. Performing the process of structural analysis using ANSYS software. Both half-span models are subjected to lift and vertical take-off loads. From the analysis results, the sandwich composite wing (glass fiber skin with styrofoam core) is stronger than the balsa wood wing structure under vertical take off loads. While the VTOL rods, upper and lower spars of the balsa wood wing model are stronger than the sandwich structure under lift loads, but overall the sandwich wing structure is stronger than the balsa wood wing

Analisis Frekuensi Natural Rangka Main Landing Gear Pesawat UAV Menggunakan Ansys Workbench

The main landing gear is one of the important components in UAV aircraft. This paper aims to analyze the natural frequency of the main landing gear and determine its normal mode shape. This analysis is important so that no resonance causes damage to the main landing gear components. The main landing gear uses Aluminum 6061 material and the analysis is carried out using the finite element method with the help of Ansys Workbench software. The analysis showed that the natural main landing gear frequencies for mode 1 to mode 6 were 76.04 Hz, 85.07 Hz, 167.82 Hz, 201.92 Hz, 288.39 Hz, and 327.00 Hz, respectively. The maximum deformation of the main landing gear for mode 1 to mode 6 is 33.73 mm, 35.35 mm, 48.16 mm, 44.62 mm, 38.14 mm, and 41.51 mm, respectively.

Numerical study of drag force on the UAV tilt and fixed wing model during vertical take off landing

A hybrid vertical take-off landing (VTOL) UAV combines the concepts of fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAV aircraft in one platform while performing in both conventional and vertical take-off landings. This aircraft has a drawback of significant drag force generated due to fixed-wing. Therefore, a Tilt-Wing often utilized to overcome this obstacle whereby it could be adjusted to the vertical and horizontal directions. To enhance the understanding of generated drag force on both wing model, this study was performed by examine the drag characteristic of the VTOL UAV. The simulations were carried out in the wind speed range by 1.4 m/s, 4.17 m/s, and 6.94 m/s. Simulation results showed that the drag of the UAV Hybrid Tilt-Wing and Fixed-Wing increased at the speed of 1.4 m/s to 6.94 m/s while the highest drag value was 177.51 N on a Fixed-Wing UAV aircraft and 1.97 N on a Tilt-Wing UAV aircraft. The result concluded that Tilt-Wing UAV has less drag which was more efficient than fixed-wing.

Understanding Shape Memory Alloy Torsional Actuators: From the Conceptual to the Preliminary Design

Shape memory alloy actuators have been studied for more than thirty years. Many experimental tests have been performed, and several patents have been registered. However, designing such devices is still a challenging task. On the one hand, models are not yet able to provide the accuracy required to replace a substantial portion of the experimental tests; on the other hand, it seems that a gap exists in the literature between the main ideas behind SMA torsional actuators and their actual implementation. This work is a systematic effort to fill this gap, helping researchers and designers in developing SMA torsional actuators with a particular focus on aeronautical applications. This paper reports all the steps toward the preliminary design of such devices, using a state-of-the-art, commercially available FEM software. Moreover, the SMA rods’ behaviour under mechanical and thermal loading is thoroughly examined, looking at monitoring stress, temperature, torque and martensite evolution simultaneously, and thus providing a holistic vision of the macroscopic phenomena involved during phase transformations. Simple aerodynamic load predictions are also performed, using Xfoil for three classes of aircraft (medium size UAV, Four-Seat Aircraft and Regional Transport Aircraft).

STRENGTH ANALYSIS OF CARGO-X UAV WING STRUCTURE USING SANDWICH COMPOSITE MATERIALS

The Cargo-X UAV aircraft is a UAV aircraft designed to carry medicines, packages and blood bags in areas that require fast and efficient handling. One of the important components of the Cargo-X UAV aircraft is the wing, so the strength of the wing structure must be seriously considered to ensure safety during flight under unexpected conditions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the wing structure of the UAV Cargo-X aircraft made of sandwich composite material to determine the level of safety of the wing structure. The loading of the wing structure uses the load due to the lift. The wing structure modeling uses CATIA software, while the analysis uses PATRAN/NASTRAN software. From the analysis results, the skin and spar wing structures are safe against loading, while the core section is not safe against loading.

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Modeling on Narasena Bengawan UV Team Quickster UAV Wings with Addition of Vortex Generator to Aerodynamic Performance

This research is based on obtaining the best possible aerodynamic performance for the Quickster Narasena Bengawan UV Team UAV aircraft wing design. One of the factors that greatly affects the flying performance of a UAV is the wing. The wing on the Quickster Narasena UAV aircraft uses an MH33 airfoil, because MH33 is specifically for high-speed UAV aircraft. This research will discuss the comparison of the performance of a wing without a vortex generator with a wing with a vortex generator. Variations in the positioning of the vortex generator on the wing of the Quickster Narasena UAV will also be discussed in this study. The method used in this research is the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) method. The simulation process will use the ANSYS Fluent 19.0 application with the K-Omega SST method with the Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation as the basis. The purpose of this study is to obtain the results of the coefficient of drag, lift, and the contour of the turbulence that will occur. The simulation results that have been done are the geometry of the wing with the addition of a vortex generator can reduce the drag coefficient and can increase the lift coefficient.

A Review on Design Methods of Vertical take-off and landing UAV aircraft

Unmanned aerial vehicle is the most widely used aircraft technology due to its eminent applications in various fields like in military for surveillance, patrolling and rescue operations, agriculture and civil uses like food delivery, Aerial photography etc. There are two main categories of UAVs; Fixed-wing UAVs and multi-rotor UAVs. There are some issues which arise with conventional aerial vehicles like the absence of enough runway in rural areas and dense forests. Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs have the advantages of both fixed-wing and fixed rotor type aircraft. These types of aircraft are more suitable for such applications where lack of runway and dense forests are major issues. This review article mainly focuses on the work done in the domain of design and analysis of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)

Design and Approach of CNC Foam Cutter

Foam is widely used material in various industries for multiple applications. Similarly in the UAV industry which is one emerging industry across globe uses different foams for UAV design, pattern making, UAV manufacturing and many more. Some Foam are lightweight with certain rigidity which makes it suitable for small UAV aircraft. In the early stages of development of aircraft various design iterations are done using foam by UAV designers. To save time of this foam cutting process & improved precision accuracy in cut. This can be achieved using Computer numerical control Foam cutter. This design CNC foam cutter aims to resolve mentioned issues & provide feasible solutions for cutting foam in wing shapes. This study will explain the design and approach of CNC foam cutters.

Solar Panel Effect on Low-Speed Airfoil Aerodynamic Performance

Recently, a great interest in search of alternate means of power for the traditional fuel for aircraft propulsion is raised so as to decrease gas emissions and reduce operating costs. For the small and micro unmanned aerial vehicles or small transportation aircraft, there are many challenges in the direction of constructing an electric or solar powered airplane whose wings may possibly be sheltered with photo voltaic PV solar panels to harvest sun’s energy for propulsion. Greatest remarkably success solar powered aircraft has attracted the attention of researchers other than UAV and small aircraft supporters. Although the solar panel is thin, its thickness is considerable compared to the airfoil thickness. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of adding the solar panel over a low camber airfoil suitable for low-Reynolds number flights, as mini UAVs. Three panel installation configurations are examined to stand on the most suitable configuration, in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. The analysis is based on the airfoil characteristics (lift, drag, and moment) and the pressure distribution over the airfoil surface. A parametric study is conducted to study the effect of the solar panel size, thickness, and position on the aerodynamic performance.

Effect of Fillet Radius of UAV Main Landing Gear on Static Stress and Fatigue Life using Finite Element Method

The landing gear is one crucial component in the UAV aircraft structure because it serves as the main supporting component of aircraft load when landing and take-off. This study aims to determine the effect of the fillet radius on static stress and fatigue life of the main landing gear for UAV aircraft. Static stress and fatigue life analysis using the finite element method with Ansys Workbench software. The fillet radius is varied 120, 130, 140, and 150 mm. Predictions for fatigue life use the Gerber mean stress theory with a full-reserved type of loading. Landing gear material uses Aluminium alloy 6061. The static stress analysis shows that the higher the fillet radius, the higher the von Mises stress of the main landing gear frame. The fatigue life analysis shows that the higher the fillet radius, the lower the fatigue life of the main landing gear frame. The main landing gear frame achieves the highest fatigue life of up to 3.90 x 107 cycles at a fillet radius of 120 mm.

Analisis statik kekuatan struktur pesawat UAV vertical take off-landing VX-2

VTOL UAV aircraft is aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and have flexible maneuverability. This aircraft is increasingly being used because of its ability to carry out various missions. The aircraft modification process that was previously designed for the VTOL VX-1 was carried out to correct problems encountered during flight tests The stages of research carried out in the static analysis of the structural strength of the UAV VX-2 aircraft were to modify the wing structure, fuselage and tail of the previous aircraft design, carry out modeling with CATIA software and then analyze the structure with Patran-Nastran to ensure the modification was safe. The result of the analysis the modified structure of the UAV VX-2 aircraft design, the wing structure has a maximum stress 185 MPa in the case of torsion loads, while the maximum tension tail structure 257 MPa is located in the horizontal stringer stabilizer at pull up loads. The results of the calculation the Margin of Safety with all positive values, the modified structure is declared safe.

Validation of flight dynamic stability optimization constraints with flight tests

Numerical optimization in aerospace sciences and industry is now used on a daily basis. Since, aircrafts are very complicated objects, analyzing multiple disciplines and using Multidisciplinary Design Optimization became a regular practice. Coupling both aerodynamic and structural analyses in the optimization framework is classical example. On the other hand, flight dynamic stability analyses are very rarely incorporated into the optimization process, or if so, in very limited way. Yet, having appropriate flight dynamic stability characteristics is crucial for the aircraft handling qualities, which are regulated by the airworthiness regulations. Methodology for the design and optimization coupled with dynamic stability constraints has been previously established by the authors of this article. This paper presents validation of this design methodology by comparing data acquired from the design and optimization process with the test flight data of UAV aircraft, which was designed basing solely on the developed methodology of the multidisciplinary optimization framework.

Optimization of Fuel Injection Control System of Two-Stroke Aeroengine of UAV

Power efficiency of two-stroke spark-ignition engine is generally low because improper amount of fuel injection leads to a lot of unburned fuel loss during the engine working process. However, parameters of the fuel injection system are hard to confirm by aviation experiments due to expensive test costs. This paper proposes a method of calibrating injection parameters of two-stroke spark-ignition engine based on thermodynamic simulation and parameter optimum algorithm. Firstly, the one-dimensional thermodynamic model is built according to the internal structure and thermodynamic process of the engine; then, the model parameters are corrected according to the operating principle of the injector; after experimental verification of the model, considering both the engine power sufficiency and fuel economy, Analytic Hierarchy Process method is applied to look for the optimal injection amount and fuel injection advance angle at different engine working speeds; finally, an aeroengine experiment station with an electronic fuel injector system is built. Through simulation and experiment studies, it can be seen that when the engine speed changes from 3000 to 3500 RPM, the oil consumption rate of the optimal results is higher than that of the previous ones; when the aeroengine speed is higher than 4000 RPM, the oil consumption rate results of the optimal method are 10% to 27% higher than the original results. This paper can be a reference in the optimization of UAV aircraft engine.

Visual Slope Inspection using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Nowadays the natural slope cuts for the purpose of the construction of public transport is ubiquitous in Malaysia. These cuts cause the changes of the natural slope structure thus make the slope structure become unstable and causes to rubble. In order to avoid the slope’s failure, the monitoring work on slope should be carried out by the responsible party to ensure that the slopes are in good condition and the advance warning can be issued before the occurrence of the rubble. Conventional method of slope monitoring is extremely high risk. Usually, maintenance personnel will climb up to the top of the slope to take pictures for the purpose of monitoring reports [1]. Slope monitoring activities are also limited as climbing steep slope structures require a lot of energy and takes quite a while. Therefore, this research aims to explore the ability of the micro UAV aircraft usage in order to monitor the slope condition. The aim of study is to monitor the high risk slope using UAV. To achieve the aim, the following objectives are formulated by produce orthomosaic image, Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM) using pix4d mapper software, analysis the image of drainage system taken by UAV and developed contour of the slopes and analyse watershed of the slope using global mapper software. In this paper, the drainage on the slope becomes the focus since its plays an important role as it reduces the existence of groundwater and to transport the rainwater pours on slope surface. The study was conducted at two places where first at Kuala Pilah Federal Route 361 and second at Jalan Bangi Selangor State Route B17. The processes involved were planning and preparation before flight, data retrieval using UAV aircraft, image processing using Pix4dmapper software and assessment of the slope using Global Mapper software. Subsequently, the slope condition can be determine based on the monitoring of the slope drainage. Through this study, the condition of slope surface can be seen by images taken from UAV such as cracking on slope structure and excessive vegetation growth in slope drainage. Besides that, the slope inclination, height and water flows on surface can be known. Therefore, the usage of UAV aircraft for slope monitoring and inspection was successfully and the aims of this paper was achieved since the device shows a very good tendency and the ability to monitor the slope condition.

Track detection system of UAV based on line structure light

Aiming at the present problems of strong subjectivity and low efficiency of manual push flaw detection vehicle, in order to meet the requirements of high-speed rail detection, this system uses UAV aircraft combined with line structured light technology to realize a track detection system based on multiple sensors. In the method of joint positioning, after coarse positioning of the UAV through satellite positioning, the camera on the UAV is used to identify the image of the track to complete accurate positioning and single-track tracking. The high precision and fast scanning speed of structural light are used to obtain the profile data of rail. The obtained measurement data were calibrated by combining the mathematical model established with the track CAD model to eliminate the influence of the UAV’s self-disturbance on the acquired data and achieve the acquisition of rail wear data. At the same time, the computer vision technology is used to extract the window in the track, and the track intrusion detection is carried out through the analysis of the gray map distribution in the window.

PENGARUH SUSUNAN DAN JUMLAH LUBANG BAUT TERHADAP KEKUATAN RANGKA MAIN LANDING GEAR UNTUK PESAWAT UAV

This study examined the effect of the arrangement and number of bolt holes on the strength of the main landing gear frame for UAV aircraft using the finite element method. Linear static analysis was carried out using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2017 software. Main landing gear frame using Aluminum alloy 5083. Variable arrangement and number of bolt holes were 3 bolts (series), 3 bolts (zigzags), 4 bolts (series), 4 bolts (zigzags) ), 5 bolts (series), and 5 bolts (zigzags). The simulation results show that the safety factor is for the arrangement and the number of bolts 3 bolts (series), 3 bolts (zigzags), 4 bolts (series), 4 bolts (zigzags), 5 bolts (series), and 5 bolts (zigzags) were 3.498, 3.325, 3.843, 3.793, 3.401, and 3.338.