Molecular spectroscopy : modern research. Vol. 2 / edited by K. Narahari Rao.

• Micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) are distinguished by their small size, low aspect ratio, and low velocity. As a result, MAVs fly at low Reynolds number flow regimes with significant drag characteristics and strong tip vortices. This investigation is focused on the aerodynamic characteristics of a recently developed MAV at the University of Colorado. The Colorado MAV has a flexible membrane wing with an aspect ratio of 1.2 and a chord of 0.27 m. Numerical simulations of the flow around the Colorado fixed wing MAV are presented using a steady state parallel compressible Navier-Stokes solver. The computational grid has 510,000 nodes and about 3 million tetrahedral elements. The maximum calculated lift coefficient is approximately 1.2. The airplane stall angle is at 30°. The high stall angle is attributed to the enhanced lift from a low pressure region above the wing caused by strong tip vortices. Minimum drag coefficient was calculated to be 0.06 at 2° angle of attack. A laminar separation bubble is formed on the upper surface of the wing at moderate angle of attack. The drag increases rapidly as the angle of attack increases. A maximum aerodynamic efficiency of L/D = 4 is observed when flying at 10 m/s.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Rymd- och flygteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Aerospace Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Aerodynamic characteristics

Aerodynamic efficiency

Compressible Navier-Stokes

Laminar separation bubble

Low Reynolds number flow

Micro aerial vehicle

Tetrahedral elements

University of Colorado

Angle of attack

Aspect ratio

Computer simulation

Drag

Fixed wings

Flow control

Laminar flow

Micro air vehicle (MAV)

Numerical models

Reynolds number

Wind tunnels

Lift

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)