Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Winglets
Faculty Mentor Name
R. Andrew Gerrick, Shigeo Hayashibara
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
Extensive research of winglets has been done for many commercial high-speed aircraft applications in the past. The objective of this project is to recognize how winglets assist in the performance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles traveling at lower speeds, at lower altitudes, and in a more viscous (low Reynolds number) environment. A number of UAV winglets will be designed based on XFLR5/ANSYS-Fluent CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis; then will be manufactured/tested in SolidWorks with 3-D printing technology. The analytical results will be verified in 1/9 scale low-speed subsonic wind tunnel testing. XFLR5 is used to vary the shape of the winglet design parameters in terms of winglet length, sweep, dihedral, and twist. The length of the winglet is varied/analyzed from 0.5 inches to 2 inches in small increments. Once the length that produces the highest Lift-to-Drag (L/D) ratio is chosen, the sweep, dihedral, and twist will be added to the design one by one and will be optimized in terms of highest L/D ratio. Each winglet design is analyzed using the Vortex Lattice Method in XFLR5 to visualize downwash and obtain estimates of induced drag coefficients and lift coefficients. The best winglet will be utilized on the SAE Aero West competition team’s UAV main wing. The winglet will incorporate a compromise between a high L/D and a low total drag coefficient.
Poster Presentation
IGNITE Grant Award
Location
AC1-Atrium, Eagle Gym
Start Date
3-23-2018 11:00 AM
End Date
3-23-2018 9:00 PM
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Winglets
AC1-Atrium, Eagle Gym
Extensive research of winglets has been done for many commercial high-speed aircraft applications in the past. The objective of this project is to recognize how winglets assist in the performance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles traveling at lower speeds, at lower altitudes, and in a more viscous (low Reynolds number) environment. A number of UAV winglets will be designed based on XFLR5/ANSYS-Fluent CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis; then will be manufactured/tested in SolidWorks with 3-D printing technology. The analytical results will be verified in 1/9 scale low-speed subsonic wind tunnel testing. XFLR5 is used to vary the shape of the winglet design parameters in terms of winglet length, sweep, dihedral, and twist. The length of the winglet is varied/analyzed from 0.5 inches to 2 inches in small increments. Once the length that produces the highest Lift-to-Drag (L/D) ratio is chosen, the sweep, dihedral, and twist will be added to the design one by one and will be optimized in terms of highest L/D ratio. Each winglet design is analyzed using the Vortex Lattice Method in XFLR5 to visualize downwash and obtain estimates of induced drag coefficients and lift coefficients. The best winglet will be utilized on the SAE Aero West competition team’s UAV main wing. The winglet will incorporate a compromise between a high L/D and a low total drag coefficient.
Poster Presentation
IGNITE Grant Award