Numerical study of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in dry microburst environment using large eddy simulation (LES) model

Abstract

Purpose In a microburst wind, the profiles and characteristics are significantly different from those of normal boundary layer winds. The objective of this work is to study the microburst effect on the performance of aircraft for providing guidelines to frame escape strategies. Design/methodology/approach Large eddy simulation model is used to study the effect of microburst by simulating the actual physical process of microburst-generated downdraft environment over the unmanned aerial vehicle. In this work, an attempt has been made to simulate the dry microburst (microburst not accompanied by rain) numerically using the impinging jet model to explore the effect of microburst at 12° angle of attack for flight take-off condition with a Mach number 0.04. Findings The numerical results revealed the aerodynamic performance loss of an aircraft in the microburst-generated downdraft during take-off condition quantitatively. This could be a more valuable information to the aviation industry. The authors believe that the results shown in this paper will be useful for the designers of aircraft. This will also help train the pilots to control the airplanes in a microburst environment. Practical implications Severe thunderstorms are significant weather phenomena that have a significant impact on various facets of national activity, including civil and defence operations, specifically aviation, space vehicle launch and agriculture, in addition to their potential to cause damage to life and property. Originality/value The maximum percentage of pressure increases on the upper surface of the aircraft between 2 and 7 s is 99.86% under the microburst-generated downdraft condition. The flight escape maneuver could be initiated, before increasing the pressure on the upper surface of the aircraft. The aircraft flies with high airspeed through the microburst environment, where the microburst-generated downdraft is most severe.