Cheolwan Kim

Aerodynamic analysis of tilt-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with computational fluid dynamics

CFD simulation for one of tilt-rotor UAV configurations, TR-E2S1, was performed to investigate its aerodynamic characteristics. Control surfaces such as elevator and rudder were deflected and wing incidence angle was changed. Also aerodynamic stabilities were analyzed with the variation of pitch and yaw angles. The comparison of CFD with wind tunnel test results reveals the same trends in the aerodynamic characteristics and stabilities. However 12% scale wind tunnel test model is too small for accurate data collection and should build a high fidelity model for quantitative data comparison.

Two Dimensional Numerical Study in Gangway of Next Generation High Speed Train For Reduction of Aero-acoustic Noise

As the preceding research for the design of gangway in the next generation high speed train, the aero-acoustic noise at the gangway is calculated. For this purpose, the shape of gangway with mud flaps is assumed as the two-dimensional cavity. Then, 5 gap sizes between mud flaps of gangway are selected and parametric study is performed according to the gap sizes. From this study, the aerodynamic features such as vortex shedding, pressure, etc. are computed. Also, the aero-acoustic properties of tonal noise and overall noise are analyzed at the 3 locations of microphone and the relation between the gap size of mud flap and the noise level is assessed. Through this study, it is shown that the noise characteristics of base and specific models are better than those of other models.

Performance Evaluation of Propeller for High Altitude by using Experiment and Computational Analysis

Wind tunnel experiment and computational analysis have been carried out to evaluate the performance of propeller for scale electric-powered HALE UAV, named EAV-2H+. Performance curves are measured for three propellers and their adequacy for EAV-2H+ installation is examined through consideration of operating conditions. Decline in performance coefficients is observed in low rpm region. Also, the effect of transition tape on propeller performance is measured and analyzed. The computational performance analyses are carried out by using commercial CFD program. The thrust and power coefficient from computations show good agreement with experimental results. Performance coefficients are compared and the influence of measurement device which contributes to discrepancy of the results is examined. Transition SST model is confirmed to yield the tendency of performance decline in low rpm range, similar to experimental observation. The decrease in aerodynamic performance of blade element due to low Reynolds number is identified to cause the decline in propeller performance. Analyses for high altitude conditions confirms degradation in propeller performance.

Design and Performance Evaluation of Propeller for Solar-Powered High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Design, wind tunnel test, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, and flight test data analysis are conducted for the propeller of EAV-3, which is a solar-powered high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The blade element momentum theory, in conjunction with minimum induced loss, is used as a basic design method. Airfoil data are obtained from CFD analysis, which takes into account the low Reynolds number effect. The response surface is evaluated for design variables by using design of experiment and kriging metamodel. The optimization is based on desirability function. A wind tunnel test is conducted on the designed propeller. Numerical analyses are performed by using a commercial CFD code, and results are compared with those obtained from the design code and wind tunnel test data. Flight test data are analyzed based on several approximations and assumptions. The propeller performance is in good agreement with the numerical and measurement data in terms of tendency and behavior. The comparison of data confirms that the design method, wind tunnel test, and CFD analysis used in this study are practically useful and valid for the development of a high-altitude propeller.

Design and Performance Analysis of Propeller for Solar-powered HALE UAV EAV-3

Design and performance analysis of propeller for solar-powered HALE UAV, EAV-3 are conducted. Experiment points of design variables are obtained by using Design of Experiment(DOE) and Kriging meta-model is generated for objective and constraints function. The geometry of propeller is designed by evaluating the response surface with requirement and restrictions. The validity of the design is verified by meta-model based optimization. Computational analyses are carried out by using commercial CFD code and the results are compared with those from a design code and wind tunnel test. The results showed good agreement with predictions of the design code at the design altitude. Also, it is confirmed that the blockage effect due to the measurement device and support strut is included in the test data and the results including this effect compare well with the test data.

Wing Design Optimization for a Long-Endurance UAV using FSI Analysis and the Kriging Method

In this study, wing design optimization for long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is investigated. The fluid-structure integration (FSI) analysis is carried out to simulate the aeroelastic characteristics of a high-aspect ratio wing for a long-endurance UAV. High-fidelity computational codes, FLUENT and DIAMOND/IPSAP, are employed for the loose coupling FSI optimization. In addition, this optimization procedure is improved by adopting the design of experiment (DOE) and Kriging model. A design optimization tool, PIAnO, integrates with an in-house codes, CAE simulation and an optimization process for generating the wing geometry/computational mesh, transferring information, and finding the optimum solution. The goal of this optimization is to find the best high-aspect ratio wing shape that generates minimum drag at a cruise condition of C L = 1.0. The result shows that the optimal wing shape produced 5.95 % less drag compared to the initial wing shape.

Analysis of the Influence of Ground Effect on the Aerodynamic Performance of a Wing Using Lifting-Line Method

The lifting-line method based on Weissinger`s method is extended to be able to analyze the ground effect. The method is applied to predict the variation of aerodynamic performance due to ground effect for the elliptic wing with aspect ratio of 10 and the wing of human powered aircraft. While the vortex strength of the wing increases slightly, the downwash decreases significantly as the wing approaches to the ground. For the wing of human powered aircraft, the increment of lift at the height of 2m is 5% than the lift outside the influence of ground effect. The decrease of induced drag at the height of wing span is 10% and at the height of 2m is 55% than that out of ground effect.

Multi-Disciplinary Design Optimization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

A general procedure of preliminary design of aircraft and one-way fluid-structure interaction (FSI) applied to aircraft design is introduced briefly. Then, FSI and optimization technique are implemented to optimize a wing shape of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for minimum cruise drag. FSI analysis and optimization processes for minimizing drag of UAV are explained. Design variables are wing taper ratio and dihedral angle, and objective function is the cruise drag of UAV. Fluid solution is generated with Euler solver and structural analysis is performed with FEM solver, Diamond. Sample points are selected by Design of Experiment (DOE) method and Kriging method is used for generation of an approximation model.Copyright

CFD Analysis of CRW Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Drag Reduction Strategy

In this study, CFD analysis for 2D ellipse and 3D CRW UAV are performed. Furthermore, flow analysis around a hub connecting body and rotor is analyzed and a strategy to reduce the drag caused by the hub is sought. Also, the idea of fairing installation is confirmed by a wind tunnel test.