| dc.description.abstract | Abstract: Long endurance surveillance
drones are preferred in both military and
meteorological applications. Designers aim to
enhance vehicle aerodynamics in view of
increasing endurance by introducing methods
of drag reduction. This research aims to
enhance the performance of an existing UAV
widely used in Sri Lanka for surveillance,
reconnaissance and other military operations.
The UAV is propelled by a pusher type
propeller, behind which lies a twin boom
mounted H-tail for the stability. The propeller
wake from the propeller creates a continuous
turbulent flow on the tail surface resulting in
higher profile drag. A design is proposed to
replace the tail section with inverted V-tail
configuration with sufficient clearance from
the immediate propeller wake. The new
design resulted in a reduction of
approximately 21% in total wetted area. CFD
simulations were carried out to analyse
aerodynamic parameters of the reconfigured
aircraft, where 18.69% reduction in drag was
observed. The static longitudinal static
stability is assessed and found to be within
acceptable limits. The final design shows a
significant improvement in the performance
of the aircraft in terms of range and
endurance. | en_US |
