Performance Optimized Tilt-Wing eVTOL with INDI - Master Thesis
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 лис 2021
- Short summary of the main flight phases during the testing of the flight performance optimized tilt-wing aircraft "TUNA", developed by Benjamin Kelm as part of a master thesis at the Flight System Dynamics Institute (FSD) of RWTH Aachen University.
The thesis had a much wider scope. The main challenges were:
(1) [Main Emphasis] Developing a semi-automatic VTOL design toolchain (in MATLAB)
(2) Building a "test"-aircraft to verify the toolchain (extensive use of 3D FDM & Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP))
(3) Designing and implementing a robust controller to cope with hover & cruise flight (INDI - Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion Controller)
(4) Extracting & Evaluating flight performance data
I'd love to share more insight from that thesis, if there's the interest. Just let me know.
The aircraft features attitude and speed control.
Abstract of the Master Thesis:
Title: Development of a flight performance optimized design and evaluation program for convertaible aircraft
Convertible aircrafts combine the advantages of the vertical take-off capability of a rotary wing aircraft and the high static flight performance of a fixed wing configuration. While the vertical take-off capability allows a largely independent use of an air traffic infrastructure, the horizontal flight capability permits an efficient flight at high speeds to cover a long range. When designing tilt wing aircrafts, there is a great potential for performance optimization since the usual boundary conditions in wing design, such as the minimum landing speed, are eliminated. However, in order to fully exploit the flight performance potential, the many complex interrelationships must be taken into account in the preliminary design phase.
In this thesis, a set of calculation modules (toolchain) is developed to support the preliminary design process. These modules enable the user to design and optimize a tilt wing aircraft automatically. All relevant components such as wings, tail unit, fuselage and engine nacelles as well as propeller drive systems can be designed and subsequently analysed.
In order to test the developed toolchain for practical suitability and to prove its validity, a tilt wing aircraft was designed and optimized for a maximum lift-to-drag ratio. Subsequently, the performance-optimized tilt wing aircraft was designed and manufactured. By using novel manufacturing processes the production time could be reduced to 14 weeks.
The validation was carried out through performance measurements in subsequent flight tests for the hover and horizontal configuration. The analyzed data yields an overall small deviation between the design calculation and the experimental results. For a complete validation of the aerodynamic modules, however, further test flights are necessary.
Keywords:
convertible aircraft, tilt wing, performance optimization, preliminary design
You can download the master thesis here (it's written in german!):
dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.335... - Наука та технологія
very cool !
Wow, Great
Sehr schön dass du wieder was hoch lädst!
Danke Johannes, ich hoffe, dass bald wieder mehr kommt - in den Wintermonaten hab ich immer mehr Zeit für sowas ;)
@@BenjaminKelm Machst du eigentlich noch Paragliding? Ich suche hier in der Nähe ein paar Startplätze, aber Coo scheint das Nächste zu sein und alles Andere ist mindestens eine Stunde Fahrt weit weg...
Hi Benjamin das finde ich sehr gut👌🎯
What an amazing project.
Skimming over the master thesis reveals so much went into this project. From design of airframe, to construction method, to flight testing. I imagine there was a whole aspect around the design and configuration of software to help stabilized this aircraft, beyond the mechanics of flight from VTOL to cruise and back.
Was left wondering what is advantage to tilting the full main wing, vs. tilting just the front motor pods? There is likely a mechanical complexity or aerodynamics constraint that I'm overlooking, as appears simpler. (which is often not the case, as one digs deeper into a problem, or design)
Thanks! Yes indeed, there was a lot more that went into the project. The main challenges were
(1) Programming a semi-automatic VTOL design toolchain (in MATLAB)
(2) Building a "test"-aircraft to verify the toolchain (extensive use of 3D FDM & Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP))
(3) Designing and implementing a robust controller to cope with hover & cruise flight
(4) Extracting flight performance data
I'd love to share more insight from that thesis, if there's the interest. Just let me know.
Concerning your question on Tilt-Rotor vs. Tilt-Wing: The Tilt wing has the advantage of having the control surface (aileron) effectiveness when hovering. But there's a big disadvantage to the sensitivity to wind in hover and more complex behaviour. Indeed, the last reason is why the professor/institute (FSD of RWTH Aachen University) likes to research in that topic - its just more challenging pertaining the control algorithms. Academia ;)
Beeindruckendes Projekt! 👍
Welcher Flugcontroller und welche SW (Ardupilo) kamen zum Einsatz?
Der Flugcontroller (HW) ist eine Elektronik, die am Institut entwickelt wurde und nicht öffentlich ist. Die Software ist ebenfalls eine Eigenentwicklung auf MATLAB/Simulink Basis - mit Matlab Coder auf die Hardware gebracht.
Hi Benjamin,
There is no file in your link for the thesis. May I have the new link for it? Thank you very much.
Sorry, I've now added the thesis to ResearchGate:
dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33557.91364
Would like to read your thesis.
I am an ME looking for the optimum flight platform for a VTOL drone for automated fire suppression. Want to discuss?
Sure, you can follow up on me on LinkedIn if you like.
If a cri cri can, this would be even better. If someone would design some small multirotor staged rotary engines.
Have you considered translation to English? Would love to read this.
Hey Paul, sorry for the late reply. Currently there is no translation done - if it's really important, please let me know. Otherwise deepL.com or similar translation engines probably will do the job ;)
I wonder if this wing helps when it flies vertically or it just adds unneeded weight
The attached aileron (control surfaces) help to yaw the aircraft. Apart from that, the wings are only needed in transition or horizontal flight
do yuo have an english version or your thesis?, good job
Sorry, no english available at the moment. If there's an interest, I might do a detailed video about the master thesis.