Mid Wing

Straight Main Spar

Straight Aft Spar 2 m

1. 2
Tapered Main Spar

Far side wing

3 m
1. 8

Figure: Wing geometry for MALE UAV configured with NACA 6614 airfoil at a span of
3.05m supported by 2 x composite spars and EPS core
 a.

Coefficient of Lift
0.329

0.327

0.325

Coefficient of Lift 0.323

0.321

0.319

0.317

0.315
8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000
No of Elements

Figure: Grid independence study for NACA 4415 airfoil for CFD model validation through wind
tunnel data. a) 457 mm NACA 4415 enclosed in C-type domain 20 times the size of chord
length. b) Close view of mesh resolution near the airfoil surface at y+=1 and 20 inflation layers
for 18,000 elements.
(a)
(a) (b)

(c)
 2.5 Coefficient of Lift Cl vs AoA

1.5

0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Wind Tunnel Spalart Allmaras SST K omega
BSL K Omega K Epsilon Std K omega Std

0.12 Coefficient of Drag Cd vs AoA

0.1

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Wind tunnel Spalart Allmaras SST K omega BSL K Omega

K Epsilon Std K omega Std K epsilon Real K Kl Omega trans
 Lift Force Drag Force (N) Moment (N.m)
600 32 157
156
599
31.5 155
598 154
597 31 153
596 152
30.5
151
595
150
594 30 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
No of Elements No of Elements
No of Elements

Figure: Grid independency study for 3D fluid flow over MALE UAV wing.
a)Unstructured mesh generated in the 3D fluid domain (20 times the size of
MAC) enclosed over wing geometry with Y+=1 and 20 inflation layers. b) Lift,
drag and moment trend for 15.8 M , 18.2 M and 20.5 M elements shows
indiscrepancy in desired output at 20.5M elements mesh.
 a.

b.

c.

Figure: Post Processing analysis at inlet velocity of 40m/s, 0 at STP conditions a)Pressure variation over the
airfoil cross-section at 0m, 0.5m, 1m, 1.5m, 2.0m, 2.5m, 3.0m and 3.06m(left to right from top) relative to
the root chord. b) Pressure profile over the wing surface corresponding to the lift force of 596.9 N. c)Span
a. c.

Mesh Refinement Study

70

60

50

Max Von mises stress MPa

40

b. 30

20

10

0
1 3.05 7.55

No of elements

10.9 M Elements Mid Wing surface Far wing surface Main spar aft spar EPS Core

Figure: a) Surface creation for fiber layup on wing surface and spars(main spar and aft spar modelled
separately as a single entity). b) Mesh resolution over the wing at 7.55 M elements for mesh refinement
study. c)Variation of maximum Von Mises stresses for wing components at various mesh resolutions. The %
 Polar Properties
a. Fiber Properties V

Woven Carbon Fiber Woven Glass Fiber UD Carbon Fiber

b.

Figure: (a) Visualization of polar properties ( Young's Modulus and Shear

Modulus) single composite ply in longitudinal and lateral axis. (b) Fiber la
definition comprising of 5 ply each 0.5 mm thick stacked at [0,90] degree
c. tensile test validation of woven composites as per ASTM D 3039. (c) Fibe
definition comprising of 2 ply each 0.5 mm thick stacked at [45,-45] degr
shear test validation of uni-directional composites as per ASTM D 3039.
Comparison of experimental Young and Shear Modulus with FEA results
Young's Modulus MPa Shear Modulus MPa
maximum error below 18% with in the permissible limit of 20% proposed
Description Autio et al.
Exp FEA Exp FEA
42000 37579.03 12350 14513
Woven carbon Fiber
Error=10.52% Error= 17.5%

14352 13481.69 4728 4886.92

Woven Glass fiber
Error=6.06% Error= 3.36%

78715 67620 2195 2119