• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.16-26
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• 2005

The aerodynamic design of a proprotor for the Smart UAV adopting tiltrotor aircraft concept is conducted in this study. Since proprotor of tiltrotor aircraft is operated at both rotary and fixed wing mode with single configuration rotor, the proprotor has to be designed to meet performance requirements for both flight modes. The aerodynamic design of proprotor is accomplished by combining three sources of data - the proprotor performance data, the aerodynamic data of vehicle, and the performance data of engine. The performance analysis code for proprotor is based on the combined momentum and blade element theory and validated by comparison with the TRAM data. In order to design configuration for a proprotor satisfying requirements for both rotary and fixed wing mode, various kind of performance maps are constructed for many performance and configuration parameters. From the analysis the twist angle of 38 degrees and the solidity of 0.118 are decided to be the optimal geometric parameters for both operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.845-855
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• 2018

Cross section design of a prop-blade is carried out for VTOL(Vertical Takeoff and Landing) Quad Tilt Prop-rotor UAV with a maximum takeoff weight of 55 kg and a maximum cruising speed of 180 km/h. Design procedure for cross section design is established and design requirements for prop-blade are identified. Through the procedure, cross section design is carried out to meet the identified requirements. Main design factors including stiffness, weight per unit length, and elastic axis are obtained by using a finite element section analysis program, and the design weight of the prop-blade is predicted. The obtained design factors are used along with the rotor system analysis program CAMRAD II to evaluate the dynamic stability of prop-blade in operating environment. In addition, the prop-blade load is obtained by CAMRAD II software, and it is used to verify the safety of the prop-blade structure. If the design results are not satisfactory, design changes are made in an iterative manner until the results satisfy the design requirements.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.36-43
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• 2017

Blade design optimization of QTP-UAV prop-rotor was conducted using ModelCenter(R). Performance efficiency of the blade in hover and forward flight were adopted as the multi-objective function. Required power and pitch link force applied to constraint in each flight mode and limited lower than the value of the baseline blade. Design variables of root chord length of the blade, taper ratio, twist slope, twist angle at 0.5R of the blade, anhedral angle, parabolic coefficient of a tip shape and location of airfoil were used to generate the blade planform. CAMRAD-II, the comprehensive analysis program of rotorcraft, was used for performance analysis of prop-rotor blade in design process. Performance of the optimized blade improved 1.6% of figure of merit in hover and 13.6% of propulsive efficiency in forward flight. Pitch link force also reduced approximately 30% less than that of the baseline blade.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.78-85
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• 2022

Multicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasingly for cargo transportation to mountainous and island regions, image information acquisition in disaster areas, and emergency rescue transport. In order to successfully perform these tasks, the aircraft structure must be able to safely support the loads induced by flight conditions while ensuring the vibration and aeroelastic stability of the prop-rotor. This study introduced a structural analysis model of a 40kg payload multicopter with an engine-generator hybrid power system. The deformation and stress distribution are investigated depending on the load conditions. In addition, the vibration characteristics and aeroelastic stability of the prop-rotor were also presented to flight speed and aircraft pitch angle. The maximum thrust generated by the prop-rotor and the landing load applied to the multicopter under normal and emergency landing conditions were reviewed., It confirmed that the structure could support without failure. In addition, it confirmed that the damping characteristics of each primary locate in the constant region according to the aircraft's flight speed and the prop-rotors rotating speed.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.08a
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• pp.415-421
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• 2006

The unsteady flow calculation around the proprotor of Smart UAV was conducted. Using the flight scenario of SUAV which composed of hover, transition, and airplane mode, the aerodynamic analysis of proprotor were performed for the variation of collective pitch, rpm, forward speed, and tilt angle. The unsteady compressible Navier-Stokes equations were used for the calculation and the dynamic overset grid technique was applied for the rotating proprotor. The aerodynamic performance of proprotor calculated in this way were validated by comparing with the performance data obtained from the blade element momentum method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.389-392
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• 2011

In this study, the engine performance data was extracted and analyzed through the flight test of Smart UAV which is tilt rotor aircraft. The flight test was conducted for the transition flight regime where the tilt angle of prop-rotor varies from 90 degree to 0 degree and vice versa. The engine performance data such as engine power and specific fuel consumption gathered from flight tests were compared well with the results of engine performance analysis program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2006

For SUAV is required to have the capacity of VTOL and fast forward flight, the SUAV development program has decided to adopt the tiltrotor mechanism which includes helicopter and turboprop mechanisms. From the engine point of view, the key engine parameters such as engine operating mechanism, engine control scheme, the dynamics characteristic of power train, engine intake/exhaust concept, and engine installation requirements should fulfill the requirements of the two different mechanisms, helicopter and turboprop. And for the maximum efficiency of the rotor, rotational speed for the two modes are 20% different, the power train shall find a way to make it so. Meeting these specific requirements for the tiltrotor mechanism, this research begins with a conventional OTS(off-the-shelf) turboshaft engine survey and minimizes engine modification to develop an economical propulsion system. The engine technical review has been performed on the basis of those requirements and capabilities.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.8-13
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• 2007

Unsteady flow simulation for the tiltrotor Smart UAV configuration was performed to investigate the powered rotor wake effect on aerodynamic characteristics. Calculations were performed to simulate various flow conditions based on different flight modes including hover, conversion and cruise. Three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equation code were used for flow calculation and Chimera grid technique overlapping individually generated grids was employed. A dynamic grid method was adopted in simulation of the rotating blades. Flow calculations were also conducted for the un-powered case. Aerodynamic interaction between the rotor and airframe was investigated comparing three data sets from the un-powered, powered, and isolated rotor cases.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.45-55
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• 2023

This study conducted aeromechanics modeling and structural load analyses of Tilt Rotor Aeroacoustic Model (TRAM), a 25% scaled V-22 tiltrotor model used in wind tunnel tests. A rotorcraft comprehensive analysis code, CAMRAD II, was used. Analysis results of this study in low-speed forward flights were compared with DNW test and previous analysis results. Blade flap bending moments were in good agreement with measured data. Mean values and oscillatory loads for lead-lag bending and torsion moments were slightly different from measured data. However, when mean values were removed, results of structural loads for one rotor revolution were moderately compared with wind tunnel tests and previous analyses. Total forces and half peak-to-peak forces of the pitch link reasonably well matched with previous analysis results and measured data. Finally, harmonic magnitudes of blade structural loads were investigated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.533-536
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• 2009

The power control system of Smart UAV is similar to the propeller pitch governing concept of turboprop aircraft. The pilot inputs the engine power directly and the pitch governor controls the rotational speed of proprotor. In this paper, the engine status data from ground test of Smart UAV, such as the relationship of PLA vs. Gas generator speed and power are compared with the result of engine performance calculation program.