Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind

The aerodynamic performance of the quadrotor is usually suffering a lower propulsive efficiency in a windy environment. Especially the horizontal wind may affect the attitude control to provide sufficient thrust to lift the entire vehicle or cause extra power consumption. In this paper, the aerodyna...

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Main Authors: Yao Lei, Hengda Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9117134/
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author Yao Lei
Hengda Wang
author_facet Yao Lei
Hengda Wang
author_sort Yao Lei
collection DOAJ
description The aerodynamic performance of the quadrotor is usually suffering a lower propulsive efficiency in a windy environment. Especially the horizontal wind may affect the attitude control to provide sufficient thrust to lift the entire vehicle or cause extra power consumption. In this paper, the aerodynamic characteristics of a micro quadrotor aircraft considering the horizontal wind disturbance are studied by both experiments and simulations. First, the aerodynamic model of the quadrotor with the influence of horizontal wind disturbance is deviated in details. Then, the distribution of flow field of the quadrotorr MAV considering the effects of horizontal wind was simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Finally, the thrust and power consumption of quadrotor with rotational speed ranged from 1500 to 2300 r/min were obtained in a low-speed wind tunnel. The comparison of simulation and experimental results shows that the distribution of flow field becomes more complicated with mutual interferences resulted by the distortion of rotor wake and crash of the downwash flow from the front rotors along with the wind direction. The thrust of the rotors gradually increases with wind speed, resulting from the increment of pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces. However, the power consumption is also increasing because of the possible vibration caused by the strong interactions when the wind speed is up to 4.0 m/s. Also, the power loading of the quadrotor is larger at 2.5 m/s, which shows a good wind resistance with a better aerodynamic performance.
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spelling doaj.art-99003973877d4de4ae52e9a9f55bcc962022-12-21T22:01:17ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362020-01-01810942110942810.1109/ACCESS.2020.30027069117134Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal WindYao Lei0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4764-2081Hengda Wang1School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, ChinaThe aerodynamic performance of the quadrotor is usually suffering a lower propulsive efficiency in a windy environment. Especially the horizontal wind may affect the attitude control to provide sufficient thrust to lift the entire vehicle or cause extra power consumption. In this paper, the aerodynamic characteristics of a micro quadrotor aircraft considering the horizontal wind disturbance are studied by both experiments and simulations. First, the aerodynamic model of the quadrotor with the influence of horizontal wind disturbance is deviated in details. Then, the distribution of flow field of the quadrotorr MAV considering the effects of horizontal wind was simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Finally, the thrust and power consumption of quadrotor with rotational speed ranged from 1500 to 2300 r/min were obtained in a low-speed wind tunnel. The comparison of simulation and experimental results shows that the distribution of flow field becomes more complicated with mutual interferences resulted by the distortion of rotor wake and crash of the downwash flow from the front rotors along with the wind direction. The thrust of the rotors gradually increases with wind speed, resulting from the increment of pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces. However, the power consumption is also increasing because of the possible vibration caused by the strong interactions when the wind speed is up to 4.0 m/s. Also, the power loading of the quadrotor is larger at 2.5 m/s, which shows a good wind resistance with a better aerodynamic performance.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9117134/Quadrotorhorizontal windadjacent rotorsaerodynamic interferencewind tunnel testsnumerical simulation
spellingShingle Yao Lei
Hengda Wang
Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind
IEEE Access
Quadrotor
horizontal wind
adjacent rotors
aerodynamic interference
wind tunnel tests
numerical simulation
title Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind
title_full Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind
title_fullStr Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind
title_full_unstemmed Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind
title_short Aerodynamic Performance of a Quadrotor MAV Considering the Horizontal Wind
title_sort aerodynamic performance of a quadrotor mav considering the horizontal wind
topic Quadrotor
horizontal wind
adjacent rotors
aerodynamic interference
wind tunnel tests
numerical simulation
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9117134/
work_keys_str_mv AT yaolei aerodynamicperformanceofaquadrotormavconsideringthehorizontalwind
AT hengdawang aerodynamicperformanceofaquadrotormavconsideringthehorizontalwind