Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV

In recent years, UAV has been popular in the military and homeland security field for recon and surveillance purposes, with occasional search and rescue mission. However, conventional UAVs are expensive, heavy and bulky. Nonetheless, it requires more than one crew to operate it. With the demand of s...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ng, Jian Wern
Other Authors: Shian Lee
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64585
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author Ng, Jian Wern
author2 Shian Lee
author_facet Shian Lee
Ng, Jian Wern
author_sort Ng, Jian Wern
collection NTU
description In recent years, UAV has been popular in the military and homeland security field for recon and surveillance purposes, with occasional search and rescue mission. However, conventional UAVs are expensive, heavy and bulky. Nonetheless, it requires more than one crew to operate it. With the demand of smaller, lighter, cheaper as well as instant launching single man operation UAV getting more, mini‐UAV was developed. However, the issues with mini‐UAVs is that their flight altitude is lower than those conventional UAVs. This causes the mini‐UAVs more vulnerable to severe weather condition. In order to overcome this, flexible wings made from layers of carbon fibers were invented. It is proved that flexible wing membrane is easier to maneuver in the windy weather thanks to the adaptive washout mechanism that came along with it. Furthermore, flexible wings can be wrapped around the mini‐UAV fuselage for storage and can be easily deployed. The purpose of this project is to improve the controllability of this flexible wing UAV due to the drawback on lack of aileron on the wings as it is not practical to have one. Flexible wing UAV depends solely on the control surfaces that is available at the empennage, be it a pair of ruddervators or elevons. Limited choices were given due to the constraints of the flexible wings. Torque rods are first to be eliminate as it will prevent the wings from folding during storage. Hence, smart materials became the first choice. With new actuation methods, new controls are needed.
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spelling ntu-10356/645852023-03-04T18:19:48Z Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV Ng, Jian Wern Shian Lee Tegoeh Tjahjowidodo School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Control engineering DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Motor vehicles DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Prototyping In recent years, UAV has been popular in the military and homeland security field for recon and surveillance purposes, with occasional search and rescue mission. However, conventional UAVs are expensive, heavy and bulky. Nonetheless, it requires more than one crew to operate it. With the demand of smaller, lighter, cheaper as well as instant launching single man operation UAV getting more, mini‐UAV was developed. However, the issues with mini‐UAVs is that their flight altitude is lower than those conventional UAVs. This causes the mini‐UAVs more vulnerable to severe weather condition. In order to overcome this, flexible wings made from layers of carbon fibers were invented. It is proved that flexible wing membrane is easier to maneuver in the windy weather thanks to the adaptive washout mechanism that came along with it. Furthermore, flexible wings can be wrapped around the mini‐UAV fuselage for storage and can be easily deployed. The purpose of this project is to improve the controllability of this flexible wing UAV due to the drawback on lack of aileron on the wings as it is not practical to have one. Flexible wing UAV depends solely on the control surfaces that is available at the empennage, be it a pair of ruddervators or elevons. Limited choices were given due to the constraints of the flexible wings. Torque rods are first to be eliminate as it will prevent the wings from folding during storage. Hence, smart materials became the first choice. With new actuation methods, new controls are needed. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) 2015-05-28T07:34:47Z 2015-05-28T07:34:47Z 2015 2015 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64585 en Nanyang Technological University 53 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Control engineering
DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft
DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Motor vehicles
DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Prototyping
Ng, Jian Wern
Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV
title Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV
title_full Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV
title_fullStr Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV
title_full_unstemmed Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV
title_short Study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing UAV
title_sort study of the application of smart materials on flexible wing uav
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Control engineering
DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft
DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Motor vehicles
DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Prototyping
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64585
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