Design and simulation of a Blended Wing Body (BWB) airframe for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

Abstract

In recent years, the use of UAVs in different areas such as agriculture, surveillance, medicine and others, have contributed to the growth of these industries and have produced an overall positive economic impact in the society. In Ecuador, this technology is currently being used for agricultural and surveillance purposes. In the present work the aerodynamic design of a Blended Wing Body airframe to be used in a UAV for applications in agriculture, medicine, surveillance, cartography and other uses has been conducted. Two-dimensional aerodynamic and longitudinal stability analyses were performed with three airfoils to be used in the 3D design. The designed airframe was then tested via CFD using the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. The simulation results were validated by comparing them to similar works. The design process used in this thesis resulted in a preliminary airframe of near 50 kilograms of lift force.