Rapid Prototyping Process of Aerodynamic Components for a UAV

The paper presents an application of the rapid prototyping process of the aerodynamic fiberglass and carbon fiber element for aeronautical vehicle systems without pilots, whose mold is made of extruded polyester foam or expanded polyester by hot wire cutting process. To manufacture an aerodynamic fiber element, usually a mold is required. In the case of traditional manufacturing or in the case of rapid manufacturing of a fiberglass and/or carbon fiber wing or empennage, both processes consist of layering the fiber and resin and polymerizing it in a mold, then finishing, painting, and coating, if necessary, with a protective layer. The traditional manufacturing of mold for the fiberglass or carbon fiber wing is expensive depending on the material used and is a time-consuming process. The process presented in the paper has a working time of 8 h in laboratory conditions for obtaining an aerodynamical element with dimensions up to 1000 × 500 × 300. This would mean a much shorter time to manufacture a mold compared to the obtaining of a mold for series, which can take from several weeks to several months. In the article, the steps of the rapid manufacturing of an aerodynamic element are described, and its practical implementation is discussed in detail. A comparison is made between the traditional process and the proposed rapid manufacturing process.