Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

With the rapid development of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, urban air traffic has gradually attracted people’s attention. The lift system is a key technology in the composition of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft systems. Due to its compact structure, low noise, safety, and reliability...

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Main Authors: Du Siliang, Zha Yi, Zhao Qijun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/2295279
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author Du Siliang
Zha Yi
Zhao Qijun
author_facet Du Siliang
Zha Yi
Zhao Qijun
author_sort Du Siliang
collection DOAJ
description With the rapid development of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, urban air traffic has gradually attracted people’s attention. The lift system is a key technology in the composition of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft systems. Due to its compact structure, low noise, safety, and reliability, the ducted lift body has been widely used as a thrust or lift device in aircraft design and has become one of the development directions for future electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This article focuses on the aerodynamic optimization design of the main lift duct body components of a coaxial multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle, aiming to improve its power load and wind drag. The specific method is to remove the partial duct structure between the upper and lower coaxial rotors; change the flow characteristics of the flow field around the duct body; then establish a grid model of the duct body suitable for numerical analysis; analyze its aerodynamic characteristics in hovering, axial flow, and oblique flow states; and finally compare the aerodynamic characteristics with the unmodified duct body structure. The numerical simulation results show that the modified duct body has a significant increase in aerodynamic efficiency and a 4.5% increase in power load compared to the unmodified one. In order to further verify the flight performance of the modified ducted body structure of the drone, we designed and produced two ducted coaxial multirotor drones. Compared with the unmodified ducted body structure of the drone, the modified drone structure reduced weight by 800 g and increased flight time by 11.5%. The above methods have proven the effectiveness of optimizing the design of the duct body structure, providing a theoretical basis for the aerodynamic design and optimization of large duct vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
format Article
id doaj-art-583bcf86029d4b54af71bd81de1b4ee1
institution Kabale University
issn 1687-5974
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
spelling doaj-art-583bcf86029d4b54af71bd81de1b4ee12025-02-03T07:21:18ZengWileyInternational Journal of Aerospace Engineering1687-59742024-01-01202410.1155/2024/2295279Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial VehiclesDu Siliang0Zha Yi1Zhao Qijun2Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Research InstituteUnmanned Aerial Vehicles Research InstituteNational Key Laboratory of Helicopter AeromechanicsWith the rapid development of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, urban air traffic has gradually attracted people’s attention. The lift system is a key technology in the composition of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft systems. Due to its compact structure, low noise, safety, and reliability, the ducted lift body has been widely used as a thrust or lift device in aircraft design and has become one of the development directions for future electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This article focuses on the aerodynamic optimization design of the main lift duct body components of a coaxial multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle, aiming to improve its power load and wind drag. The specific method is to remove the partial duct structure between the upper and lower coaxial rotors; change the flow characteristics of the flow field around the duct body; then establish a grid model of the duct body suitable for numerical analysis; analyze its aerodynamic characteristics in hovering, axial flow, and oblique flow states; and finally compare the aerodynamic characteristics with the unmodified duct body structure. The numerical simulation results show that the modified duct body has a significant increase in aerodynamic efficiency and a 4.5% increase in power load compared to the unmodified one. In order to further verify the flight performance of the modified ducted body structure of the drone, we designed and produced two ducted coaxial multirotor drones. Compared with the unmodified ducted body structure of the drone, the modified drone structure reduced weight by 800 g and increased flight time by 11.5%. The above methods have proven the effectiveness of optimizing the design of the duct body structure, providing a theoretical basis for the aerodynamic design and optimization of large duct vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/2295279
spellingShingle Du Siliang
Zha Yi
Zhao Qijun
Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
title Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_full Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_fullStr Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_full_unstemmed Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_short Aerodynamic Optimization Design of Duct Body Structure for Coaxial Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_sort aerodynamic optimization design of duct body structure for coaxial rotor unmanned aerial vehicles
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/2295279
work_keys_str_mv AT dusiliang aerodynamicoptimizationdesignofductbodystructureforcoaxialrotorunmannedaerialvehicles
AT zhayi aerodynamicoptimizationdesignofductbodystructureforcoaxialrotorunmannedaerialvehicles
AT zhaoqijun aerodynamicoptimizationdesignofductbodystructureforcoaxialrotorunmannedaerialvehicles