• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.10-15
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• 2021

The propeller wake of tiltrotor-type aircrafts, such as TR-60 and quad tilt propeller (QTP) UAV, in hover substantially impinges the upper surface of the primary wing and generates a downward load. This load is directly proportional to the thrust of the propeller and reduces the available payload. Therefore, wing and nacelle mechanisms should be carefully designed to reduce downward load. This study conducted a numerical analysis of the rotating propeller in hover to predict the downward load of a QTP UAV. An unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver was used along with a sliding mesh for the simulation of the rotating propeller. To reduce the downward load, the tilting mechanisms of the partial wing and nacelle were simultaneously introduced and numerically analyzed. Finally, the downward load was predicted by 14% of isolated propeller thrust; further, the downward load could be reduced by adopting the partial wing and nacelle tilting concept.

• 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 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.1196-1199
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• 2017

A series-hybrid power system was designed for quad-tilt prop UAV and the characteristics was analysed. The power system consists of a 4.5kW rotary engine-generator and a li-battery as power sources, a power controller manages the overall power and supplies to the vehicle system. The output power of the engine is to be matched with the generator performance considering mechanical driving loss and generating efficiency, and also loss for charging and discharging of the battery energy. It is applied that the constant speed operation of the engine-generator to minimize overall fuel consumption by integrating the generating power and the battery energy, consequentially the battery capacity and characteristics could be important factors for improvement of the system efficiency.