Aerodynamic Efficiency Enhancement of Delta Wings for Micro Air Vehicles Using Shape-Optimization
| Autor: | Bikalpa Bomjan Gurung, Sandeep Saha |
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| Rok vydání: | 2023 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Aircraft. 60:594-605 |
| ISSN: | 1533-3868 0021-8669 |
| DOI: | 10.2514/1.c036703 |
| Popis: | The performance of fixed-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) is impaired due to their small size, operating speeds, and altitude leading to limited lift, aerodynamic efficiency (lift-to-drag ratio), and low gust resilience. Nonslender delta wings have high stall angle and maneuverability, which are desirable features for MAVs. However, the aerodynamic efficiency of delta-winged MAVs is low, thus impacting the overall performance. We optimize the aerodynamic efficiency of a flat-plate delta wing using the adjoint-based aerodynamic shape optimization method coupled with incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The optimization improves the aerodynamic efficiency from 6.2 to 10.2 at 5° angle of attack while satisfying lift and moment constraints. The optimized wing is significantly cambered, and the axial cross section reveals that a circular arc can approximate the optimized wing airfoil. A parametric study of the circular camber delta wings with a 0–7.5% camber-to-chord ratio reveals that an increase in camber leads to linear growth in the lift, whereas the drag shows a quadratic growth. Consequently, an optimum camber exists at 2.5% for maximizing the aerodynamic efficiency (9.3); the wing has aerodynamic characteristics closely resembling the optimized wing, thus revealing that the essence of the efficiency optimization process is to identify the optimal camber distribution. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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