Propulsion System Drag Reduction for Vertical Takeoff and Land (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Abstract

Vertical Takeoff and Land (VTOL) is a new technology in the UAV field. Separate lift and thrust (SLT) was the most simplistic design of VTOL UAV. However, during the forward cruising flight phase, the VTOL component of the UAV will induce the drag. Therefore, this research is to reduce the drag effect on the inactive propulsion system. To reduce this drag, five motors fairing samples with different shapes, lengths, and sizes have been designed. Each sample was tested using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation to examine the reliability of the design. Subsequently, they were tested in a wind tunnel facility to measure the resultant drag. The results from a wind tunnel test indicated that the longest length provides the lowest drag. Based on the result, V3.2 design is the most effective fairing design with a maximum of 93% drag reduction respect to the off-the-shelf motor holder.