ScanEagle Drone CFD Simulation, ANSYS Fluent

Description

ScanEagle UAV Aerodynamic CFD Simulation, ANSYS Fluent Tutorial

Introduction

A small, long-endurance, low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used for reconnaissance is the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle. It is a Boeing subsidiary.

ScanEagle has a 1,500km range and can run continuously for more than 28 hours. The air vehicle’s operating range is 80 to 126 km/h, and its level flying cruise speed is 90 km/h. The vehicle can climb at a maximum velocity of 150 meters per minute, reaching an altitude of 4,880 meters.

A ScanEagle UAV is modeled in this simulation using ANSYS Fluent software. The device moves at a speed of 27.8  m/s while the propeller rotates at an angular velocity of 1200 rev/min.

The geometry of the present model is three-dimensional and has been designed using Design Modeler software. We do the meshing of the present model with ANSYS Meshing software. The mesh type is Polyhedra, and the element number is 3,213,450.

Methodology: ScanEagle UAV CFD Simulation

The Multiple Reference Frames (MRF) method is used to model the rotational motion of the propeller.

Conclusion

After the simulation process was finished, contours and vectors for parameters such as velocity, pressure and turbulent intensity were obtained. As shown in the velocity contours, the small number of vortexes behind the propeller and the air movement around the UAV are visible.

The maximum amount for the turbulent intensity parameter is exactly behind the propeller due to its rotation.

As was expected, the UAV’s front surfaces experience the highest pressure in the static pressure parameter case. The UAV’s nose, the front surfaces of its wings, and its propellers are under the highest static pressure, demonstrating the importance of giving these parts special attention during production.

The amount of drag and lift force are 17.590563N and 25.787414N, respectively.