• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.49-55
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• 2013

This paper deals with the flight test of propulsion system of middle size electrically powered UAV (EAV2, Electric Aerial Vehicle 2) which is under development in KARI. EAV2 is low speed endurance type UAV whose wing span is 6.9 m, and weight is 18 kg. The UAV has flown for 22 hours in June of 2012. The flight test result showed that the propulsion system worked well suppling power for any circumstances during the test flight. Each power source worked according to the design purpose.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.940-947
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• 2012

The target system is a middle size UAV, which is a low-speed long-endurance UAV with a weight of 18 kg and wingspan of 6.4 m. Three electric power sources, i.e. solar cells, a fuel cell, and a battery, are considered. The optimal takeoff time is determined to maximize the endurance because the generated solar cell's energy is heavily dependent on it. Each power source is modeled in Matlab/Simulink, and the component models are verified with the component test data. The component models are integrated into a power system which is used for power simulations. When takeoff time is at 6 pm and 2 am, it can supply the power during 37.5 hrs and 27.6 hrs, respectively. In addition, the thermostat control simulation for fuel cell demonstrates that it yields more power supply and efficient power distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.94-101
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• 2015

Each of power systems of solar cell and fuel cell were configured and validated for long endurance UAV, as the preliminary research for the integration of power systems. Solar power system consisted of solar modules fabricated by solar cells of Sunpower's C60, commercial solar MPPT controller and Li-po battery, and then was validated. The re-start characteristics of hydrogen production from $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis was validated for operating the commercial fuel cell. The average voltage drop of Li-po battery in solar power system was -2.9 V/hour. The performance of re-start characteristics of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis was stable in sequence mode of mission profile. Each of single systems were satisfied for the proposed mission profile.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.44 no.9
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• pp.759-768
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• 2016

Design and performance analysis of propeller for solar-powered HALE UAV, EAV-3 are conducted. Experiment points of design variables are obtained by using Design of Experiment(DOE) and Kriging meta-model is generated for objective and constraints function. The geometry of propeller is designed by evaluating the response surface with requirement and restrictions. The validity of the design is verified by meta-model based optimization. Computational analyses are carried out by using commercial CFD code and the results are compared with those from a design code and wind tunnel test. The results showed good agreement with predictions of the design code at the design altitude. Also, it is confirmed that the blockage effect due to the measurement device and support strut is included in the test data and the results including this effect compare well with the test data.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.468-477
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• 2014

In this research, how a solar powered HALE (high altitude long endurance) UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) can climb and reach mission altitude, 18km, starting from the ground using only solar energy. A glider type aircraft was assumed as a baseline configuration which has wing area of $35.98m^2$ and aspect ratio of 25. Configuration parameters, lift and drag coefficients were calculated using OpenVSP and XFLR5 that are NASA open source programs, and climb flights were predicted through energy balance between available energy from solar power and energy necessary for a climb flight. Minimum time climb flight was obtained by minimizing flight velocities at each altitude and total time and total energy consumption to reach the mission altitude were predicted for different take off time. Also, aircraft moving distances due to westerly wind and flight speed were calculated.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.50-58
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• 2016

In our preceding study, we reported that the use of light, composite-material wings in long-endurance Solar-Powered UAVs is a critical factor. Ribs are critical components of wings, which prevent buckling and torsion of the wing skin. This study was undertaken to design and manufacture optimal composite ribs. The ribs were manufactured by applying laminated-layer patterns and shapes, considering the anisotropic properties of the composite material. Through the finite element analysis using the MSC Patran/Nastran, the maximum load and the displacement shape were identified. Based on the study results measured by structural tests, we present an optimal design of ribs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.133-140
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• 2018

Recently, environmentally friendly aviation propulsion systems have received a lot of attention. Therefore, many studies have been conducted on the development of UAVs and propulsion systems that can perform missions while relying on a combination of various power sources. In this paper, we show the design results of a hybrid propulsion system based on solar-power generation. It integrates a single system to test reliability and performance. Finally, a verification test is conducted on the aircraft to confirm the function and normal operation of the system before a flight test.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.545-554
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• 2017

Among various applications of the High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), this paper has a focus on the Global Positioning System (GPS) utilizing pseudolite and its improved performance, particularly during the multi-purpose missions. In a multi-purpose mission, the HALE UAV follows a specified flight trajectory for both navigation applications and missions. Some of the representative HALE missions are remote exploration, surveillance, reconnaissance, and communication relay. During these operations, the HALE UAV can also be an additional positioning signal source as it broadcast signals using pseudolite. The pseudolite signal can improve the availability, accuracy, and reliability of the GPS particularly in areas with poor signal reception, such as shadowed regions between tall buildings. The improvement in performance of navigation is validated through simulations of multi-purpose missions of the solar-powered HALE UAV in an urban canyon. The simulation includes UAV trajectory generation at stratosphere and uses actual geographical building data. The results indicate that the pseudolite-equipped HALE UAV has the potential to enhance the performance of the satellite navigation system in navigationally degraded regions even during multi-purpose operations.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.708-713
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• 2013

KARI is developing a solar-electric powered HALE UAV(EAV-3). For demonstrating the technology, EAV-2H, a down-scaled version of EAV-3, is developed and after EAV-2H's initial flight test, the directional stability and control need to be improved. Thus, the vertical tail and rudder of EAV-2H are redesigned with Advanced Aircraft Analysis(AAA). Size of the rudder is increased from mean chord ratio of rudder to vertical tail, $C_r/C_v(%)=30$ to $C_r/C_v(%)=60$ and size of the vertical tail is reduced 15%. As a result, the directional control to side wind($v_1$) is improved to sideslip angle, ${\beta}(deg)=25^{\circ}$ and $v_1(m/sec)=3.54$. Also, variation of airplane side force coefficient with sideslip angle ($C_{y_{\beta}}$) and variation of airplane side force coefficient with dimensionless rate of change of yaw rate ($C_{y_r}$) are reduced 15% and 22%, respectively to minimize the effect of side wind. The empennage design of EAV-2H is verified with flight tests and applied to design of KARI's solar-electric-powered EAV-3.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.311-324
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• 2015

This study presents computational analyses for low-drag aerodynamic design that are applied to modify a long-endurance UAV. EAV-2 is a test-bed for a hybrid electric power system (fuel cell and solar cell) that was developed by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) for use in future long-endurance UAVs. The computational investigation focuses on designing a wing with a reduced drag since this is the main contributor of the aerodynamic drag. The airfoil and wing aspect ratio of the least drag are defined, the fuselage configuration is modified, and raked wingtips are implemented to further reduce the profile and induced drag of EAV-2. The results indicate that the total drag was reduced by 54% relative to EAV-1, which was a small-sized version that was previously developed. In addition, static stabilities can be achieved in the longitudinal and lateral-directional by this low-drag configuration. A long-endurance flight test of 22 hours proves that the low-drag design for EAV-2 is effective and that the average power consumption is lower than the objective cruise powerof 200 Watts.