CFD Analysis of the SBXC Glider Airframe

Abstract

The research of this thesis develops and implements a computational model of the SBXC Glider utilized in the Tactical Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial System (TaLEUAS) project in order to simulate the aerodynamic performance of the airframe and compare it with real flight data. The broader goals are first, to provide a methodology for simulating a glider design with the intention to develop an optimization process or to evaluate a new design using computational tools; and second, to allow students to follow an easy process in which to undertake similar aerodynamic analyses. The fluid behavior is studied using computer software such as Ansys CFX, which is based mathematically on finite element methods. To validate and verify the methodology developed, a mathematical comparison was made with the previous research data obtaining a similar region for best flying behavior. Recommendations are given to increase the accuracy of the flying performance for velocities greater than 15 m/s.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1026582

Entities

People

  • Alejandro G. Aguilar

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Computers
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Mathematical Models
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Performance Tests
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Unmanned Systems

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Aerial Unmanned Vehicle Swarm Micro Periodontal Dentistry.
  • Aerodynamics.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy