Development of a multi-purpose flap and spoiler mechanism for high endurance unmanned aerial vehicles
Hung, Lucas K. Cai, Jielong Novotny, Neal Gunasekaran, Sidaard
Hung, Lucas K.
Cai, Jielong
Novotny, Neal
Gunasekaran, Sidaard
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2021-12-29
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Lucas K. Hung, Jielong Cai, Neal Novotny and Sidaard Gunasekaran. "Development of a Multi-Purpose Flap and Spoiler Mechanism for High Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles," AIAA 2022-1027. AIAA SCITECH 2022 Forum. January 2022.
Abstract
High endurance aircraft can provide benefits to many operations. However, sub-optimal flap mechanisms hinder takeoff and landings, especially on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). High-lift mechanisms could greatly improve small UAVs’ takeoff and landing performance but are not implemented due to their weight and complexity. Hence, there is a need for a simple control surface mechanism that can provide aileron, spoiler, and high-lift flap functionalities. Three novel designs were proposed: The Extended Flaps and Airbrakes (EXFA) System, and two variants of the High-Lift EXFA (HEXFA) System, one with a smooth upper control surface hinge and the other with retractable vortex generators. Investigations into the performance of these systems were conducted experimentally in the University of Dayton Low Speed Wind Tunnel (UD-LSWT) and computationally through SU2. The aerodynamic coefficients in each configuration were analyzed and compared with traditional flap configurations. Manual and autonomous UAV flight tests with the EXFA System were performed to validate the integrability of these systems in a full R/C aircraft system. The results suggest that the HEXFA System exhibits comparable lift characteristics to a slotted Fowler flap at low angles of attack, while being able to effectively function as an aileron and spoiler, thus offering significant weight advantages. The flight tests corroborated the effectiveness of the EXFA System at shortening landing distance and substantiated its integrability in autonomous flight. © 2022, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc.. All rights reserved.
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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
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AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2022
3 January 2022 through 7 January 2022
San Diego
270339
3 January 2022 through 7 January 2022
San Diego
270339