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Senior Design Project: design, analyze, build, test, and fly an RC aircraft to meet mission requirements outlined in the rules.
Senior Design Project: design, analyze, build, test, and fly an RC aircraft to meet mission requirements outlined in the rules.
Summary
Summary
My senior deisgn project was to develop the Utah State University Design Build Fly aircraft. My team consisted of 5 Mechanical Engineering students. The Design Build Fly (DBF) competition for my senior year had a theme of electronic warfare. There were four missions in the competition, Empty , Electronic package, Jamming Antenna, and Ground strength test. Each mission had a list of requirements as outlined in the contest rules. Our aircraft completed all missions successfully.
Design
Design
There are many aspects to the deisgn of our aircraft, some of these are shown in this section.
Wingtip Antenna
Wingtip Antenna
One of the requirements of the competition was to fly with an 'antenna' mounted to the wingtip. This antenna was to be an unmodified 1/2in PVC pipe tube. The score of the antenna mission was dependent on the length of the antenna. Our plane flew with a 30 in antenna in the competition but in tests flew with a 36 in.
Electronic Package
Electronic Package
Another Requirement of the competition was to fly with an 'electronics package' approximated by a mass contained in the aircraft. The score of the mission was depended on the weight of the package. In addition, the package must be 30% of the total aircraft weight. Our electronics package had a variable weight as shown. We flew with a 4.27lb electronics package.
Wings
Wings
The aircraft was required to take off in 60ft and needed to be able to fly with as much weight as possible. To do this, we maximized the wingspan possible within the rules and utilized full span flaperons for maximum flap effectiveness. In addition, the aircraft was required to have two sets of wings and be able to fly with any combination of them.
Portability
Portability
Another requirement was that the aircraft had to be able to fit into a box with the sum of the dimensions less than 62in. This allows the aircraft to easily be transported.
Strength
Strength
The aircraft was required to be supported by the antenna mounts in the maximum loaded configuration. Additional points could be scored by adding additional weight. To support this requirement, the wings were made using carbon fiber composites.
Electronics
Electronics
Description coming soon!
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
As the aircraft's wings were made of carbon fiber, significant time was investing in the manufacturing process of the wings. In total 7 wings were produced. In addition, the fusealge was required to support the weight of the payload. 4 fuselages were produced during the prototyping process. This section shows how we manufactured the aircraft and it's prototypes.
Fusealge Manufacturing
Fusealge Manufacturing
The fusealge of the aircraft was prototyped using sheet foam. Once the design was complete and prototyping was finished, laser cut wood and MonoKoat were used to make the fusealge.
Wing Manufacturing
Wing Manufacturing
To ensure all both pairs of wings were identical, we laser cut templates for hot-wiring. Hot-wiring is the process of using a wire heated by connecting it to a DC power supply to cut foam. Carbon Fiber was then wet with epoxy on a layer of bagging film and wrapped around the core. Next, the wrapped foam was compressed in the negatives formed by the hot-wire process. Finally, the ailerons are cut and servos are installed.
Analysis
Analysis
To ensure the aircraft met all requirements and would fly well many analyses were performed. These are the analyses we perfromed.
Wings
Wings
The wings are arguably the most important aspect of any airplane. We chose a NACA 34012 airfoil and analyzed it using XFOIL to determine the airfoil properties. Next, using a code I developed, I determined the optimal washout and flap size to minimize stall speed.
Structure
Structure
To meet the requirements of supporting the aircraft when held by the wingtips, a simple structural analysis was also performed. This makes assumptions to simplify the problem, however, as the spar acts as a simply supported beam during the ground test, these assumptions were deemed appropriate.
Stability
Stability
Using MachUpX (a numerical lifting line solver developed at the USU AeroLab) I determined the aerodynamic derivatives. Next, using code I developed, I determined the dynamic handling quality of the aircraft per MIL-F-8785c. The aircraft met all requirements for stability both statically and dynamic stability. Its spiral mode was gently divergent but was within the limits of MIL-F-8785c.
Take-off Distance
Take-off Distance
To ensure the take-off distance was less than 60ft we calculated the stall speed using XFOIL, and tested the friction of the main landing gear with the expected loading for take-off loaded on the skid. Next, using the expected thrust of the motor we determined the take-off distance of the aircraft was less than 60ft.
Endurance
Endurance
Description Coming Soon!
Thrust
Thrust
Description Coming Soon!
Competition
Competition
Description Coming Soon!
Mission 1
Mission 1
Description Coming Soon!
Mission 2
Mission 2
Description Coming Soon!
Mission 3
Mission 3
Description Coming Soon!
Ground Mission
Ground Mission
Description Coming Soon!
My Role
My Role
I lead the simulation and analyses team. My responsibilities included completing required analysis and documentation. In addition, the wings were my responsibility to design and manufacture.
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