Modular Solar-Powered Aircraft (M-SPA) is an innovative conception of HALE aircraft which can switch between combined mode and separated mode to efficiently utilize the significantly fluctuating solar energy. In combined mode, the M-SPA benefits from the decrease of induced drag. The separated mode of M-SPA gives it the potential to improve flight performance. In this paper, the subsystems of M-SPA are modeled, including solar irradiation, aerodynamic, power consumption and absorption. Then the flight performance of M-SPA is analyzed in detail. When the duration of separated mode increases, the total flight distance, whose value proportionally represents the flight performance, is lengthened as well. With the number of sub-SPAs varies from 3 to 5, the technically feasible zone for separation shrinks. Furthermore, the numerical result indicates that the duration of separated mode generally expanded with latitude decreasing and the date closing to the summer solstice. The results of the study will guide the design and application of M-SPA.
Investigation on Task-Oriented Flight Performance of Modular Solar-Powered Aircraft
Lect. Notes Electrical Eng.
International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Systems ; 2021 ; Changsha, China September 24, 2021 - September 26, 2021
Proceedings of 2021 International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Systems (ICAUS 2021) ; Chapter : 245 ; 2487-2496
2022-03-18
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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