Design of UAV Systems

Lesson objective - to review

Basic aerodynamics
relationships
.the minimum level of fidelity required
for pre-concept and conceptual design
assessments of subsonic UAVs

Expectations - You will understand how to

apply the basics and to avoid
unnecessary detail

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-1

 Design of UAV Systems Importance

These are the fundamental aerodynamic

relationships needed to define a
subsonic air vehicle for a UAV system

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-2

 Design of UAV Systems Forces and geometry
L = lift Swet = Total wetted area
Side view excluding inlet
and nozzle area
Swet-x = Wetted area of x
Ai = Inlet area
Svt = Exposed VT area
V

horizon

= Flight path angle D = Drag

p
ee
W = weight T = Thrust

sw
LE
e=
Sref = Wing reference area
(both sides to CL) l cg = center of
gravity Anoz = Nozzle
area
Cr = Root chord Ct
Swexp = Exposed wing area
(both sides)
Cmac = Mean aerodynamic chord Sht = Exposed HT area

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics

Cr 16-3
Cr
 Design of UAV Systems Aerodynamic lift

Lift (L) = ClqSref = ClqSref (16.1)

where
Cl = lift curve slope (theoretrical = 2/rad; see
RayAD Eq 12.6 for more exact formulation)
= angle of attack
Sref = aerodynamic reference area
and
Dynamic pressure (q) = (/2)V^2 (16.2)
where
= air density (lb-sec^2/ft^4)
V = airspeed (ft/sec)
For uncambered airfoils
Cl = 0 at = 0

V
c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-4
 Design of UAV Systems Aerodynamic drag

Drag (D) = CdqSref (16.3)

where
Cd = drag coefficient
= Cdmin+Cdi = Cdmin+k[Cl-Clmin]^2 (16.4)
and
For uncambered
k = 1/[Ae] airfoil Cdmin = Cd0
A = Aspect ratio = b^2/Sref
e = Oswold wing efficiency = f(,A) = sweep
Cdmin = CfKd(Swet/Sref) = Cfe(Swet/Sref)
where
(16.5)

Cf = flat plate skin friction coefficient (See RayAD

Fig 12.21)
Kd 1.2 = Factor to account for non-friction drag
items such as pressure and interference)
Cfe = Equivalent
These relationships skin friction
are for untrimmed coefficient
drag (RayAD12.3)
polars, good aerodynamic
design will minimize trim drag impact (which we will ignore for now)
c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-5
 Design of UAV Systems Oswold efficiency factor

Source - Lee Nicolai, Conceptual Design Process, LM Aero

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-6

 Design of UAV Systems Lift and drag - contd

Notional Lift Characteristics Nominal Drag Characteristics

(uncambered airfoil)
1.4
Clmax 1.2
1.2
slope = Cl Max slope = L/Dmax
1
1
0.8
0.8
0.6
Cdmin
0.6 CL@ L/Dmax
High AR, low sweep
0.4 0.4
Lower AR and/or 0.2
0.2
higher sweep
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
Alpha (deg) CD

CL and Cdmin are approximately constant for low-

to-medium subsonic speed range (below drag rise)
This simplifying assumption makes our aero analysis
task really easy (and reasonably correct)
c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-7
 Design of UAV Systems L/D max - another perspective

Theoretical (L/D)max
If Cd = Cd0 + KCl^2 then D/L = Cd0/Cl + KCl) and
(L/D) max will occur when d(D/L)/dCl = 0
or. - Cd0/Cl^2 + K = 0 or Cd0 = KCl^2 = Cdi

Minimum vs. Induced Drag

6
Min Drag
(L/D)max @ Induced Drag
Total Drag
Minimum drag
4

Cdmin
= Cdi
0
100 125 150 175 200
Speed (KEAS)

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-8

 Design of UAV Systems L/D contd

Since (L/D)max occurs when

Cd = 2Cd0 2Cfe(Swet/Sref)
then.. (16.6)
and.Cl = sqrt (AReCdo) (16.7)
(L/D)max = sqrt((e/Cfe)(b^2/Swet))/2 (16.8)
For typical aircraft
Cfe = .003 - .005 (Table 12.3), e 0.8, Kd = 1.2
(L/D)max 11.2-14.5sqrt (b^2/Swet) (16.9)
Compare this to
RayAD Figure 3.6
Airspeed at (L/D)max (aka LoDmax ) is calculated
using equations 16.1 and 16.7
- At other conditions (where speed is given) q is calculated
using Equation 16.2, Cl from16.1, Cd from 16.4 and 16.5
and L/D (aka LoD) from
- L/D = Cl/Cd (16.10)
c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-9
 Design of UAV Systems Example

A subsonic UAV has the following characteristics

W0/Sref = 40 psf
AR = 20
= 0 deg
Swet/Sref = 5 or b^2/Swet = 20/5 = 4
Cfe = .0035
From chart 16.6 at AR = 20 and = 0 deg, e 0.8 and
Cd @ LoDmax 2Cfe(Swet/Sref) = .035
Cd0 = .0175
Cl @ LoDmax = sqrt (AReCdo) = 0.938
LoDmax = sqrt{[e/Cfe][AR/(Swet/Sref)]}/2 = 26.8
q @ LoDmax = (W0/Sref)/Cl = 42.6 psf
EAS @ LoDmax = 112.2 KEAS

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-10

 Design of UAV Systems Correction factors

For pre-concept studies, equations 16.1 - 16.5 will

yield reasonable estimates of lift and drag
Nonetheless it is good practice to always compare
estimates to data from similar aircraft and to apply
appropriate correction factors
Our previous calculation
LoDmax comparisons
of LoDmax = 26.8 for AR
35
= 20, Swet/Sref = 5, for
30
example, when compared
25

(L/D)max
to parametric data from
20
other aircraft shows that 15 Chart 16-10
our estimate is consistent 10 estimate

with the parametric data 5 Manned aircraft

If not we could correct the 0
Global Hawk (est)

estimate by putting a 0 2 4
Wetted AR = b^2/Swet
6 8

multiplier on Cdmin Manned aircraft data

: LM Aero data handbook

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-11

 Design of UAV Systems More refined estimates

For conceptual design studies, a component build-

up method (see RayAD 13.5) will yield higher fidelity
drag estimates and capture:
Reynolds number effects
Overall and for individual components
Form factor effects
Such as wing thickness
Interference drag effects
Miscellaneous drag contributions
As we will see later, our pre-concept design spread
sheet methods could also incorporate these higher
fidelity methods with little additional work
They will be included at a later date
A better approach for conceptual design, however,
would be a combination of component build up for
trade studies and Euler CFD for baseline analysis
c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-12
 Design of UAV Systems Compressibility effects

On subsonic UAVs we can ignore compressibility effects

for lift and drag, but not for jet engine performance
- The effects are estimated assuming a perfect gas, where
specific heat ratio ( = 1.4)
Pressure effect
P/Pa = {1+[(-1)/2]M^2}^[/(-1)] = [1+0.2M^2]^3.5 (16.11)
Temperature effect
T/Ta = {1+[(-1)/2]M^2} = [1+0.2M^2] (16.12)
where
P and T = Total (isentropic stagnation) pressure and
temperature
Pa and Ta = Static atmospheric pressure and temperature

Example : M = 0.8; 36Kft (Pa = 472.6 psf; Ta = 390R)

P/Pa = 1.52 or P = 720 psf ( 27Kft @ M=0)
T/Ta = 1.13 or T = 440R = -19.8F ( 22Kft @ M=0)
c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-8
 Design of UAV Systems Intermission

c 2002 LM Corporation Aerodynamics 16-8