Deformation Characteristics on a Solar Powered Endurance Glider Wing by Numerical Simulation

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) hold tremendous potential based on their applications involving communication and surveillance missions; however, their operations can be broader with an extended flight duration. The gliders currently on the market are inefficient as their energy consumption is disproportionate to their battery life requiring frequent charging. This paper presents the numerical simulation analysis for the deformation of a solar glider wing under various loads and boundary conditions using ANSYS Finite Element Analysis. This study applies the K-omega SST turbulence model in ANSYS since it is a combination of K-omega and K-epsilon. Among several airfoils the S1223 airfoil was selected as the primary airfoil for the wing design. The loads applied to the wing were tested in an interval between 5 m/s and 30 m/s, considering the maximum flow velocities. The addition of a winglet increases the deformation from 149.28 to 199.22 mm at a free flow speed of 20 m/s and a Reynolds number of 232000. The glider wing proved to be a successful balance in terms of weight and stability. The results showed a decrease in deformation at lower Reynolds numbers according to the aerodynamic analysis.