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A review of guidelines and best practices for subsonic aerodynamic simulations using RANS CFD
(2019)
The paper presents the derivation of a new equivalent skin friction coefficient for estimating the parasitic drag of short-to-medium range fixed-wing unmanned aircraft. The new coefficient is derived from an aerodynamic analysis of ten different unmanned aircraft used on surveillance, reconnaissance, and search and rescue missions. The aircraft are simulated using a validated unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes approach. The UAV's parasitic drag is significantly influenced by the presence of miscellaneous components like fixed landing gears or electro-optical sensor turrets. These components are responsible for almost half of an unmanned aircraft's total parasitic drag. The new equivalent skin friction coefficient accounts for these effects and is significantly higher compared to other aircraft categories. It is used to initially size an unmanned aircraft for a typical reconnaissance mission. The improved parasitic drag estimation yields a much heavier unmanned aircraft when compared to the sizing results using available drag data of manned aircraft.
Comparative assessment of parallel-hybrid-electric propulsion systems for four different aircraft
(2020)
As battery technologies advance, electric propulsion concepts are on the edge of disrupting aviation markets. However, until electric energy storage systems are ready to allow fully electric aircraft, the combination of combustion engine and electric motor as a hybrid-electric propulsion system seems to be a promising intermediate solution. Consequently, the design space for future aircraft is expanded considerably, as serial-hybrid-, parallel-hybrid-, fully-electric, and conventional propulsion systems must all be considered. While the best propulsion system depends on a multitude of requirements and considerations, trends can be observed for certain types of aircraft and certain types of missions. This paper provides insight into some factors that drive a new design towards either conventional or hybrid propulsion systems. General aviation aircraft, VTOL air taxis, transport aircraft, and UAVs are chosen as case studies. Typical missions for each class are considered, and the aircraft are analyzed regarding their take-off mass and primary energy consumption. For these case studies, a high-level approach is chosen, using an initial sizing methodology. Results indicate that hybrid-electric propulsion systems should be considered if the propulsion system is sized by short-duration power constraints (e.g. take-off, climb). However, if the propulsion system is sized by a continuous power requirement (e.g. cruise), hybrid-electric systems offer hardly any benefit.
The paper presents an aerodynamic investigation of 70 different streamlined bodies with fineness ratios ranging from 2 to 10. The bodies are chosen to idealize both unmanned and small manned aircraft fuselages and feature cross-sectional shapes that vary from circular to quadratic. The study focuses on friction and pressure drag in dependency of the individual body’s fineness ratio and cross section. The drag forces are normalized with the respective body’s wetted area to comply with an empirical drag estimation procedure. Although the friction drag coefficient then stays rather constant for all bodies, their pressure drag coefficients decrease with an increase in fineness ratio. Referring the pressure drag coefficient to the bodies’ cross-sectional areas shows a distinct pressure drag minimum at a fineness ratio of about three. The pressure drag of bodies with a quadratic cross section is generally higher than for bodies of revolution. The results are used to derive an improved form factor that can be employed in a classic empirical drag estimation method. The improved formulation takes both the fineness ratio and cross-sectional shape into account. It shows superior accuracy in estimating streamlined body drag when compared with experimental data and other form factor formulations of the literature.