Rapid Prototyping-Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV)/Sensorcraft

Abstract

To characterize and improve upon aircraft designs in an expedient and efficient manner, it is imperative to generate approaches for rapidly assessing new aircraft designs. Recent technological advancements have enabled faster and more accurate assessment in three specific areas: computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, rapid prototyping (RP), and experimental global measurements. The Air Force Research Laboratory Air Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RB) initiated a joint computational/experimental ground testing program to investigate and analyze the flow field of the unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) X45-A as well as a strike tanker configuration. The test program used various rapid prototyping manufacturing technologies to fabricate models for ground testing; implemented innovative, nonintrusive measurement techniques; and compared CFD results with experimental data acquired from ground tests.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA477571

Entities

People

  • Charles Tyler
  • Gary Fleming
  • Richard J. Schwartz
  • Sergey Fonov

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Aircrafts
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Doppler Effect
  • Experimental Data
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Manufacturing
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Software Prototyping
  • Test Facilities
  • Three Dimensional
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Aerospace Research.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs