Conceptual Design of an Inflatable-Winged Aircraft for the Exploration of Titan

Booker, Alexander; Fathepure, Meghana; Nelsen, Tim; Tikalsky, Daniel; Wang, Nicco; Abouzahr, Omar; Cole, Andrew G.; Loh, Weng Kheong; Jacob, Jamey

doi:10.2514/6.2020-2786

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…With regards to aerofoil shape validation, a critical review of literature related to the design of inflatable wing UAVs reveals a lack of a validated shape prediction model of the inflatable aerofoil. While, indeed, earlier research has assumed the shape of the inflatable aerofoil to be a series of intersecting circles [2,4,[26][27][28][29][30], other work has assumed otherwise [11,29,31]. This paper addresses a major lacuna in the literature on inflatable wings by proving the shape of the inflatable aerofoil to be a series of intersecting circles and validates the same using a non-linear finite element analysis (FEA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Methodology for shape prediction and conversion of a conventional aerofoil to an inflatable baffled aerofoil

Mistri,

Yerramalli,

Pant

et al. 2023

Aeronaut. j.

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Inflatable wings for UAVs are useful where storage space is a severe constraint. Literature in the field of inflatable wings often assumes an inflated aerofoil shape for various analyses. However, the flexible inflatable aerofoil fabric might deform to another equilibrium shape upon inflation. Hence accurate shape prediction of the inflated aerofoil is vital. Further, no standardised nomenclature or a process to convert a smooth aerofoil into its corresponding inflatable aerofoil counterpart is available. This paper analytically predicts the equilibrium shape of any inflatable aerofoil and validates the analytical prediction using non-linear finite element methods. Further, a scheme for the generation of two types of inflatable aerofoils is presented. Parameters such as the number and position of compartments and aerofoil length ratio (ALR) are identified as necessary to define the aerofoil’s shape fully. A process to minimise the deviation of the inflatable aerofoil from its original smooth aerofoil using particle swarm optimisation (PSO) is discussed. Research presented in this paper can help in performing various analyses on the actual equilibrium shape of the aerofoil.

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