Future Trend Analysis on the Design and Performance of Solar-Powered Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Rajendran, Parvathy; Smith, Howard

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1125.635

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Long-endurance low-speed aircraft, represented by solar aircraft, has the advantage of high cruise efficiency and is widely used in low-speed reconnaissance [1][2][3]. For such aircraft, the traditional rigid skin cannot meet the requirements of rigidity and weight at the same time, so the skin material is usually flexible membrane [4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental and Numerical Study on the Performance of Double Membrane Wing for Long-Endurance Low-Speed Aircraft

Zhang

Yang

et al. 2022

Applied Sciences

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Flexible membrane structure is generally used as wing skin for long-endurance low-speed aircraft, such as solar aircraft, to control the structure weight within the allowable range. Predictably, the elastic deformation of the membrane under complex loads will cause uncertain impacts on the aerodynamic performance. The existing research indicates that the deformation of the membrane wing is helpful to improve the aerodynamic characteristics. However, most of the research objects are non-thickness membrane wings. In this paper, wind tunnel experiments are performed on double membrane wings. The experiment results indicate that the membrane deformation behavior is related to the surface curvature distribution and will change the camber and thickness of the airfoil. The deformation has little effect on lift but has a significant effect on drag and pitching moment. On this basis, a high-precision fluid structure coupling analysis method for the wider range of research is introduced. The numerical analysis indicates that the deformation can delay the stall angle by 1°. Furthermore, based on the numerical results, suggestions on prestress setting during membrane skin laying are provided, and the numerical simulation results of two flexible skin wings are compared. The research results of this paper provide a scientific basis for the aerodynamic design and analysis of long-endurance low-speed aircraft.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental and Numerical Study on the Performance of Double Membrane Wing for Long-Endurance Low-Speed Aircraft

Zhang

Yang

et al. 2022

Applied Sciences

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“…Part of these energy is used to maintain daytime cruise, and the other is stored in secondary battery for night cruise. Theoretically, it can complete weeks or even months of uninterrupted flight [1,2]. Compared with conventional aircraft, solar aircraft shows the coupling between multiple subsystems in the overall design stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overall design and sensitivity analysis of solar aircraft based on feasible region planning method

Zhang

Yang

et al. 2022

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Solar aircraft has the ability of 24-hour uninterrupted cruise, so it has become a research hotspot all over the world. The existing overall design method of solar aircraft generally obtains the design scheme through the iterative operation of the balance equations. However, the overall parameters satisfying the boundary conditions are not unique, but distributed in a specific interval. This paper presents a method to construct the radial feasible region of the overall parameters based on the balance equations, and studies the sensitivity of the feasible region to the task indicators and performance indicators respectively, which provides suggestions for the optimization direction of the subsystem in the overall design stage. Finally, based on the above methods and research conclusions, the design scheme of a 15m wingspan solar aircraft is introduced. This paper provides an intuitive overall design method for solar aircraft, and offers scientific basis for multidisciplinary collaborative optimization.

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“…Solar-powered UAV technology has been advanced greatly by researchers Zhu, et al [1], Jashnani, et al [2], Rajendran and Smith [3][4], and Gao, et al [5]. Solar energy has been used as power source in a large number of studies because it is renewable and environmentally friendly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Assessment of Various Batteries and Propellers for Small Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Rajendran

Smith

2018

J. Eng. Technol. Sci.

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In this study, the performance of the propulsion system of a solarpowered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was investigated. Both battery and propeller variation tests were performed to evaluate their performance in relation to an electric motor. The battery was varied in the number of cells and capacity, and the propeller was varied in terms of diameter, pitch, manufacturer, and propeller type (fixed and folding propellers). For validation, the bench test result was compared with a simulation model. The bench test provided a reasonable guide for the throttle level required to obtain optimal power. A large variation existed in propeller performance between manufacturers. Sizing electric propulsion is important for UAV performance and the manufacturing factor is significant for propeller performance.

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Future Trend Analysis on the Design and Performance of Solar-Powered Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

Experimental and Numerical Study on the Performance of Double Membrane Wing for Long-Endurance Low-Speed Aircraft

Experimental and Numerical Study on the Performance of Double Membrane Wing for Long-Endurance Low-Speed Aircraft

Overall design and sensitivity analysis of solar aircraft based on feasible region planning method

Experimental Assessment of Various Batteries and Propellers for Small Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

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