Reverse Engineering and Aerodynamic Analysis of a Flying Wing UAV Navabalachandran s/o Jayabalan1 , Low Jun Horng2, G.

Leng3 Aeronautical Engineering Group Department of Mechanical Engineering National University of Singapore

Abstract This study is centered primarily about two main objectives with the first one being the complete structural reconstruction and aerodynamic data generation of a pre-existent Unmanned Flying Wing Air Vehicle with inadequate contractors aerodynamic and stability data, construction specifications and knowledge of materials used. With this accomplished we then focus on further aerodynamic analysis and scientific modification to the original design and power plant to enable the platform to carry additional payloads of an autonomous navigation system and a real time operating camera to meet various practical mission requirements. The paper describes in detail the systematic reverse engineering procedure adopted to analyze and synthesize the entire model. Some of the techniques adopted are 3D Laser profile scanning of the reflex airfoil and fuselage, material research and selection and cost effective reconstruction of the non-conventional airfoil. We also present weight and balance matching techniques , the usage of commercially available CFD programmes to generate aero coefficients and forces and estimate the aircrafts aerodynamic center, results of the extensive verification flight tests conducted and performance matching procedures used in general of the reverse engineered craft to the existing UAV flying wing model.

Nomenclature CL CD Cm c Coefficient of Lift Coefficient of Drag Coefficient of Moment Chord Length d h S M Horizontal distance Height Wing Area Mass of craft

Greek Angle of Attack Angle of Pitch

Glide Angle Relative Density

Introduction Recent technological advances in the areas of propulsion, guidance systems, and microelectronics, have made commercially viable miniature autonomous flying vehicles, Micro Air Vehicles (MAV), possible. Most of the current concepts and prototypes attempt to scale down traditional aircraft design to meet defense specifications. However, classical aerodynamic concepts for fixed wing aircraft become impractical at the reduced scale of MAVs. Hence the special attention of this paper to the reverse engineering and aerodynamics of a miniature Flying Wing the Golden Eagle.

The usual method of developing an aircraft is to decide what the mission requirements of the new aircraft are, finding an aerofoil shape specific to it by testing, do a sizing and performance optimization and integrate it together with the other parts of the aircraft, i.e. controls, propulsion systems, payloads etc. However, only a physical model of the UAV was given without adequate contractors aerodynamic propulsion and stability data. This breaks the chain of development and it is required therefore to do a fair amount of reverse engineering to determine a good estimate of these required data. Moreover, conventional methods of testing and analysis may not apply to this UAV as it is much smaller and

slower than normal aircraft. New methods may have to be developed by trial and evaluation. Description of the UAV The UAV given is basically a flying wing but with a central fuselage that follows the reflex airfoil shape longitudinally and adapts to the curved M shaped, tip to tip wing layout when viewed from the back. (Figure 1) The entire aircraft (modular wings and fuselage) is constructed using ultra-light weight composite Kevlar fibre. Its fuselage is specifically designed to house 4 Lithium batteries, a speed controller and a rear pusher propeller unit. The craft is estimated to be able to carry a payload of 1.5 kgs and fly at speeds up to 20 m/s. Effectively, there are only two control surfaces on the UAV. These are the left and right elevons found at the ends of the wings of the aircraft. These control the pitching and rolling on this UAV.

Figure.1. Shape of the UAV (rear view)

Figure..2. The given UAV

The wing tips are angled upwards at about 30 degrees to the horizontal to compensate for the lack of the rudder surfaces, acting as a pair of winglets to provide lateral stability to the aircraft. Neither exactly a Sweptback wing or a Delta wing, its unconventional airfoil structure was carefully analyzed and pre-existent aerodynamic theories have been adapted to suit it where possible.

3D Mesh Generation Unable to match this particular wing with any of the standard NACA airfoils present, we had to generate a full 3 Dimensional CAD model of the craft from scratch. With the simplistic construction drawings provided we could not accurately determine the wing curvature at the concave leading edge and at the convex tail. Hence, using the Minolta, VIVID 900, Non-Contact-3D Digitizer Image Laser scanner, we photographed the entire wing profile and fuselage with a tolerance of 1.5 mm, which we then assembled and merged using the commercial scan programme RapidFormTM 2002- Reverse Modeler Version. Working with the photographed scattered points, we had to systematically connect each coordinate to attain the complex curves on the wing. Plot linearization and CAD editing was needed to marginalize the inaccuracy inherent in scanning.

Figure.3. 3-D Laser scanning and Reverse aerofoil CAD modeling procedure

The model was then sectioned and sliced at critical intervals to obtain the exact structural coordinates to be used to design and construct the wings. The entire CAD model was also imported into GAMBITTM, a mesh preprocessing programme, and modified to avoid any skewed edges before generating FLUENT compatible 3D surface and volumetric meshes.

Figure.4. 3-D Volumetric Mesh

Figure .5. CAD model of the UAV

Structural Construction Because design development was heavily dependent on flight-testing, the ease, speed, and precision of manufacturing and repair was a fundamental process we had to before development could begin. All components were determined to be modular and are to break away during impact. This ensures minimal damage and hence reducing repair costs and time. Various materials such as low and high density foam, stiff -1/2 in. cardboards, balsa, paper marches and laminate resins together with different manufacturing processors were experimented with and finally we singled out single ply bi-directionally laid tissue carbon fiber (CFRP) as the desired material for the wing and body because of its high rigidity, superior strength-to-weight ratio, low cost and ease of availability. CFRP also displays excellent mechanical properties upon impact- crucial consideration for a UAV without landing gear mechanisms.

Reusable male and female clay molds were created and checked for consistency against the acquired wing curvature dimensions. The carbon fiber framework was then laid on the molds and covered with a thin layer of synthetic polymer (Ethylene Glycol, wt. % 99.9 - Polyester). Specifically measured quantities of resin were applied equally on each of the two wings, maintaining symmetry in weight. The viscous resin was poured down on the wing, with the mold propped vertically up. This ensures an even distribution of resin throughout the cast. It was then allowed to drip and air dry in an enclosed area. This procedure we discovered, gave a smoother and more even exterior finish compared to the conventional method of brushing on the polyester. The entire manufacturing process is highly repeatable with the usage of durable and reusable molds and cost effective readily available materials.

Figure.6. Pouring of the resin on the fiber.

Figure.7. Fabricated CFRP right wings top shell

Estimation of Aerodynamic Coefficients and Forces To derive the aerodynamic derivatives, we use the CAD model of the UAV we reverse engineered. It is first converted to a STEP file and a volumetric mesh is generated using GAMBIT to be compatible with FLUENT a commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) programme. The Flying wing is subsonic UAV operating at low 6

Reynolds Numbers hence we ignored compressibility effects for the lift and drag models and modeled laminar flow conditions sighting the fact our craft operates close to the transition region; making it simpler to assume a laminar case rather then a turbulent scenario. In FLUENT, we set up numerous models with different boundary conditions to find how the UAV reacted to changes in speed, angle of attack and sideslip.

Figure.8. CFD Static Pressure Profile Plot

The coefficients attained were put into the equations of motions of the aircraft, and the transfer functions of the UAV were derived. To derive the PID gains for the UAV, an optimization was done to find the optimal gains for the UAV. MATLAB was used to find the gains, using the transfer functions that were derived.
CL vs Angle of Attack
1.4 1.2 1 CL 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 AOA in rad 0.4 0.5 0.6

The aerodynamic plots obtained are reflective of a flying wing UAV aircraft. The general shapes of the graphs are very similar to conventional airfoils and the aerodynamic forces obtained are logical too. These will be experimentally verified in glide tests.

Estimation of CG and Inertias of Mass Since the entire Flying wing model is fabricated using different materials from that used in the original prototype, we need to do a comprehensive weight and balance analysis. In general the term weight and balance refers to the mass properties of an aircraft and the resulting stability or lack thereof as a consequence of its mass properties. The term mass properties usually includes the following values: volume (or mass or weight), center of mass (or center of gravity), and the moments and products of inertia. CG is the point (or centroid) of the craft about which moments summed, due to the mass of the object, equal zero. Therefore this point represents a balancing point for the whole craft, and the total weight or gravity force can be represented as acting at this point. We weighed each component individually and marked out their CG respectively. Using simple geometric summation and parallel axis theorem, the combined CG position of the craft was found. 8

To experimentally verify our calculations, the conventional method of CG determination was employed - the entire assembled model was mounted on a pivot and shifted accordingly to attain the mass centre of the craft.
Pusher Propeller Unit Radio control electronics (two servo motors, servo card, RC receiver) Video electronics (camera, transmitter)
100g 65g

55g

Batteries (9-volt, 50 mAh NiCd) Micro Pilot Card & Cables

Structure Total

350g

29g 750g 1469g

Table 1: Equipment and weights

Figure 9. Conventional CG balancing

The remaining of the payload was then strategically positioned within the fuselage to shift the CG to the desired position before the aerodynamic centre. Fine tuning of this exact location is to be done during the trimming routine to attain longitudinal stability after glide tests. The equations for moment of inertia, are also referred to as second moment equations. This is due to the squared moment arm that multiplies each infinitesimal volume during the integration. In the case of the I , the distance from the xxx

axis is the moment arm to be squared, and due to the Pythagorean Theorem, this squared
2 2

distance is y + z . The same method is used for the other moments of inertia. We can approximate the Inertias with the geometric summation of the various components of different masses in the structure, as per equations (1)-(6).2 We must assume that each

component has a constant density and mass distribution throughout. Thus, we obtain the Inertia Tensor. Ixx = mi (Yi Ycg ) + (Zi + Zcg )
2 i =1 i=n i =1 i=n

}
2

(1) (2) (3) (4) Symmetrical Aircraft (5) (6)

Iyy = mi (Zi Zcg ) + ( Xi Xcg )

2

{ {

Izz = mi ( Xi Xcg ) + (Yi Ycg )

2 i =1 i=n i =1 2 2

i =n

Ixy = mi ( Xi Xcg ) (Yi Ycg ) = 0 Iyz = mi (Yi Ycg ) (Zi Zcg ) = 0

2 2 i =1 i =n

}
2

Izx = mi (Zi Zcg ) ( Xi Xcg )

2 i =1

i =n

Longitudinal Stability-Balancing of Pitching Moments

Stability is a very important criterion in the design of aircraft. For aircraft, two conditions must be met for longitudinal stability.

Cm < 0 & Cm 0 > 0

Cm 0.0911 = = 0.0434 CL 2.0985

(7) (8)

As shown in our Cm vs curve, the gradient is negative and the graph intersects the xaxis on the positive end. The Cm / CL calculation tells us where our aerodynamic

centre lies, the point where the moment acting on the body is independent of the angle of attack, and since this is a flying wing with a comparatively small central fuselage which also rides the wing profile, we conclude that the neutral point too lies at the a.c location calculated. The negative value (8) tells us that the ac actually lies behind the CG location.

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Figure.10. Location of AC with respect to the CG

Experimental Verification As flight-testing is an imperative step in the development any MAV design, the ability to evaluate test-flights was critical. The primary flight characteristics we aimed to validate via glide tests were stability, lift and drag. The glide tests must be conducted with the engine installed and the propeller removed. As removing the engine would have created an unrealistic mass distribution and a non-feathered propeller would have created an uncharacteristically large drag.

h d

Figure.11. Lift vs Drag Ratio verification

The glider's flight path is a simple straight line, shown as the inclined black line in Figure11. The flight path intersects the ground at an angle a called the glide angle, . 11

Horizontal Force Equation:

L sin() = d cos()

(9)
(10)

Ratio:

LIFT 1 L d = = = DRAG D tan h

2

L = 0 .5 C L V S D = 0 .5 C D V S
2

(11)

L CL = D CD

(12)

We now would have verified our CFD simulated results of Drag and Lift forces and their respective coefficients. The MAV prototype will also be fitted with the dummy camera system and glide trials will continue to assess the trim and stability condition of the craft with this additional payload. This will then allow further refinement of the Centre of Gravity position to achieve acceptable flying qualities. The goal in trimming a flying wing is to get the center of gravity as far aft as possible and still maintain stable control over pitch. Since the flying wing has very little tail moment there is a tendency for the wing to be very pitch sensitive. As this craft also does not originally have a rudder, its yaw and lateral characteristics will also be closely assessed with easily interchangeable rudders of different configurations fitted on hand during testing.
Concluding Remarks

The project satisfies the two primary goals. For the first loop of the design iteration, a considerable achievement has been made. A working prototype has been designed, built and ready for flight testing on time and within the allocated budget. Inline with the second goal, Computational Simulations have given the required aero coefficients, forces and moments which will be verified by flight tests. Problems with the CFD and mold

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building highlighted the larger timescales involved with the preparation of a model mesh, and the airfoil structure which had not been anticipated. Attempts have since been made to shorten the time needed to accomplish this task, so future students investigating MAVs may easily replicate any wing form even when faced with a hard date-line.

Apart from the vast commercial viability of the reverse engineering procedures introduced in this paper, they can also serve a crucial role in military and defense applications, where one side may be able to replicate a captured enemy drone (obviously with no supporting data) and reconfigure it to carry a micro-camera, flying it into the enemy ground, without them even engaging it.
Acknowledgements

I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor and mentor A/P Gerad Leng of the Department of Dynamics, National University of Singapore for granting me this rare opportunity and for his great encouragement and guidance all along the way.
References

1) Karl Nickel and Michael Wohlahrt,, Translated by Capt. E. Brown RN,, Second Edition-1996 Tailess Aircraft in Theory and Practice, AIAA, Education Series.

2)

Dr.Jan Roskam, Ackers Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering.

University of Kansas Lawerence, Kansas. Airplane Design, Part Five: Component Weight Estimation First Edition-1985

3) Daniel P Raymer, Aircraft Design: A conceptual approach, AIAA Education Series, ISBN 1-5634/-281-0

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