Estudio aerodinámico mediante herramientas paramétricas de una aeronave no tripulada para ser implementada en el sector agrícola de la región Andina

Abstract

The present work aims at the implementation of parametric models for the generation of geometry and aerodynamic assessment of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle to be operated in the Andean region. First, the basic procedure for the geometrical design and aerodynamic assessment of an aircraft during the conceptual phase is described. Afterwards, the operating conditions according to the Andean region were established and, the geometrical and aerodynamic modules were implemented in MATLAB. The calculated geometrical parameters were then used as input data in OpenVSP platform to develop a three-dimensional model of the proposed aircraft. On the other hand, the aerodynamic assessment was carried out through the interaction of the developed code in MATLAB with XFOIL, an open-source code for airfoil assessment. In context, the Lifting Line Theory was used to calculate the lift coefficient. Meanwhile, the drag coefficient was estimated using semi-empirical methods. Subsequently, a parametric sensitivity study was developed to determine the response of the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft with respect to the variation of the operating conditions and geometric parameters. These results were then used to stablish improvements to the initial conceptual model. The calculated aerodynamic coefficients of a study case were contrasted with higher fidelity models such as the Vortex Lattice Method and CFD. Comparison of models showed that the proposed method captures well the aerodynamic performance trends of an unmanned aircraft during the conceptual design stage.