The tilt-rotor featured Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which combines the advantages of both fixed-wing and multi-rotor, has received much attention in recent years. A rotor-embedded UAV based on a blended wing body configuration was presented for vertical take-off and landing. Two tiltable rotors were utilized to balance the performance for low speed and cruising conditions. Aerodynamic analysis was carried out numerically focusing on tilt angle effects. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method based on Navier-Stocks equations and the K-ω-SST turbulence model were used. MRF quasi-steady method was used to simulate the flow field around the rotors. Validation and verification cases were presented. Then we investigate the models for different tilt angles of rotor numerically, with analysis offlow field details, such as pressure field, velocity field, and turbulent kinetic energy. The results show that the tilt angles of rotor have important effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of the rotor-embedded UAV. Tilt angle of rotor has a significant impact on drag, leading to a 34.7% difference for lift-drag ratio. Then, the pressure field is significantly different at the hollowed hole in the fuselage. The suctioning effect of rotor on the freestream can effectively reduce the area of the low-pressure area and the pressure dragat small-tilt angles. In addition, the propeller tip accelerates the upper surface freestream velocity, resulting in better air adhesion to the upper surface and decreased the drag. At large tilt angles, the frontal area of the rotor increases, leading to evident blocking effect and apparent increment of pressure drag. As the tilt angle increases, the maximum lift-drag ratio achieves the maximum value at 30° of the tilt angle then decreases.
Aerodynamic Analysis of a Rotor-Embedded VTOL UAV
Lect. Notes Electrical Eng.
Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology ; 2023 ; Lingshui, China October 16, 2023 - October 18, 2023
2023 Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology (APISAT 2023) Proceedings ; Chapter : 38 ; 523-534
2024-07-05
12 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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