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OPTIMAL DESIGN AND CFD ANALYSIS OF WING OF

A SMALL-SCALE UAV TO OBTAIN
MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY
Sravan Kumar Khuntia#1, Amandeep Singh Ahuja#2
#1Head of Department (Training), Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology Naval Base,
Kochi-682004, India, +919969613377
#2AsstProfessor( Aeronautics) Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology ,Naval Base, Kochi-
682004, India, +9175102938,

ABSTRACT
In the recent past small-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (or Unmanned Aerial System as
it is called presently) have evolved as an important tool in non-conventional fields like
agriculture, e-Commerce, policing, medical logistics in addition to military applications [11].
This paper presents the complete methodology (very limited article exists)applied to optimally
design the wing of a small scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with help of widely used CFD
software, ANSYS to maximize its efficiency. In this study, the application of computational
methods in the iterative design process is successfully explored. The various design parameters
and features of wing also have been explored with help of CFD analysis to derive the
advantages. The strength and stiffness analysis of the UAV wing has also been carried out using
ANSYS. The modelling of wing and associated parts were carried out on CATIA. The final
design of the wing has two spars, 20 ribs a side with mid wing root strengthening, near elliptical
plan form and has an all composite structure. The wing is lighter in weight as compared to a
similar wing made from Aluminum view weight optimization, and strong enough to meet all in-
flight load conditions with safety margins. This paper demonstrates the design
process/methodology to optimally design an efficient small-scale UAV.
Keywords: UAV Wing, CATIA, CFD analysis, CFX, ANSYS, contour of turbulence, aspect
ratio, static pressure distribution, flow analysis, directional deformation

Corresponding Author: Sravan Kumar Khuntia

INTRODUCTION
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) innovations started in the early 1900s which
originally focused on providing practice targets for training military personnel. UAV
development continued during World War I which led to the rise of early powered unmanned
aerial combat vehicles (UCAV) in the year 1915 by Nikola Tesla. It was during World War II
during which Nazi Germany used UAV for fly attack missions. Over last decade the impetuous
on UAV or RPA (Remote Pilotless Aircraft) has increased manifold.
The age of the small UAV started in 1987, when Dr Paul MacCready's company
AeroVironment developed the Pointer, the first hand-launched, backpack-carried UAV. Pointer
combined the airframe technology of a high-performance model sailplane with an electric motor
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and propeller, a consumer video camera and a radio datalink. In 1999, the US Army bought four
Aero Vironment Pointer, small UAVs for testing in the service's "Military Operations in Urban
Terrain" and was enthusiastic about the usefulness of the Pointer. In recent years small scale
Drones have found their utility in a variety of important fields like Agriculture, e-Commerce,
Logistics, urban warfare, Policing, Traffic management, climate monitoring, Land survey, Media
coverage etc. The list is endless. Be it a large-scale aircraft or a small-scale UAV, the design
process is iterative and follows a certain methodology. The process isiterative because the design
parameters have to be evaluated over and over again so as to reach an optimal design. It is one of
the most challenging fields in engineering and requires highly creative thinking. It requires a
compromise between the various design parameters and eventually optimization.
Phases of Aircraft Design.
The most important part of any aircraft design is the wing that provide lift to make it airborne.
Hence Wing design has been analysed critically in this paper. However, this section gives a
glimpse of complete design process. Aircraft design can be broken into three major phases
namely Conceptual Design, Preliminary and Detailed design.
a. Conceptual Design. This phase consists of selecting a basic design depending upon the
requirements. It includes steps like initial requirements, approximate weight, draft design and
the type of propulsion
b. Preliminary Design. This phase involves freezing of the configuration although it is open to
minor revisions. Major components are designed in this stage followed by “lofting”. Lofting
is modelling of outer skin of the aircraft with sufficient accuracy to ensure proper fit between
different parts.
c. Detail Design. This is the final phase in which the actual pieces to be built are designed
which included detailed parts like individual ribs, spars etc. Another important part of detail
design is called production design which determines how the airplane will be fabricated,
starting with the smallest and simplest sub-assemblies and building up to the final assembly
process.

The conceptual design process starts with the selection of suitable configuration, which
determines the results of entire conceptual design process. Therefore, special care must be taken
to choose a suitable but yet reasonable configuration in this stage. The entire conceptual design
process is dependent on configuration. Hence, while choosing the configuration we must take
into account the following subjects:-
(a) Design requirements
(b) Historical trends
(c) Operational ease

Selecting the correct configuration is very difficult in initial phases because nothing is
fixed at this stage. If the chosen design does not provide required performance criterion then the
entire conceptual design has to be discarded. Therefore, care must be taken in selecting the right
configuration. Once the theoretical design is complete on paper the concepts of Computer Aided
modeling of chosen aircraft wing were understood with help of CATIA V5R21 and the flow
analysis was carried out using CFD Solver Fluent in ANSYS. Flow Analysis was carried out on
the wing section iteratively to offer an efficient design for the same. During the design process,

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various high lift devices and aspects to maximize the efficiency of the wing were also analyzed
viz wing taper, dihedrals etc.

CFD Analysis

Governing Equations

The set of equations solved by ANSYS CFX are the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations in their
conservation form. For all the following equations, static (thermodynamic) quantities are given
unless otherwise [Link] Equations, the instantaneous equation of mass, momentum,
and energy conservation majorly contribute to Computational Fluid Dynamics. For turbulent
flows, the instantaneous equations are averaged leading to additional terms. The instantaneous
equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation can be written as follows in a stationary
frame:

D U i
Continuity Equation  0 (1)
Dt xi

U j U j P  ij
Momentum Equation   U i    g j (2)
 
t xi x j xi 
I
   V
II III IV

 U j U i  2 U
Where  ij    

  ij  k (3)
 xi x j  3 xk

I : Local energy change with time

II: Convective term
III: Pressure work
IV: Heat flux (diffusion)
V: Irreversible transfer of mechanical energy into heat

Generalized Navier Stroke Equation

To simplify the Navier-Stokes equations, we can rewrite them as the general form.

    
  U i      q (4)
t xi  xi 

When   1,U j , T , we can respectively get continuity equation, momentum equation and energy
equation. Another general form of NSE is

(5)

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The Navier-Stokes equations are analytical equations. Human can understand and solve them,
but if we want to solve them by computer, we have to transfer them into discretized form. This
process is discretization. The typical discretization methods are finite difference, finite element
and finite volume methods.

Finite Volume Approach

Integrating the general form of Navier-Stokes equation over a control volume and applying

Gauss Theory V xi dV  S   ni dS (6)

We obtain integral form of Navier-Stoke equation

   
V t dV  S 
 U i      ni dS   q dV
xi  V
(7)

Once purpose and CFD codes are chosen, “CFD process” is to assemble the system of algebraic
equations and solve the system to get approximate solutions for all flow properties over wing. Fig
.1 explains a step by step CFD Process:
The approximate solution in an CFD process is obtained by Integration of the governing
equations of fluid flow over all the (finite) control volumes of the solution domain. This is
equivalent to applying a basic conservation law (e.g. mass or momentum) to each control volume
and time [Link], we have two types of interpolations, one is upwind interpolation,
and the other one is central interpolation.

Fig 1: Flow Chart of CFD Process

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Weight Estimation
Design take off gross weight” is the total weight of the aircraft as it begins the mission
for which it is designed. This is not necessarily the same as the “maximum take off weight”.
Design take off gross weight can be broken into crew weight, payload weight, fuel weight, and
empty weight which include weight of structure, engine, landing gear, avionics etc.
W0 = Wcrew+ Wpayload+ Wfuel+ Wempty (8)
The crew and payload weights are both known since they are given in the design requirements.
The unknowns are the fuel weight and empty weight but they are dependent on the total aircraft
weight. Thus an iterative process must be used for aircraft sizing. Thus following equation is
obtained.
W W
W0=Wcrew+ Wpayload+ (W f )Wo + (W e )Wo (9)
0 0
This can be solved for W0 as follows:
W0 - (WF/W0)W0 - (We/W0)W0 = Wcrew+ Wpayload (10)
W0 = {Wcrew+ Wpayload}/ [1- {(WF/W0)W0 - (We/W0)W0 }] (11)

Now W0 can be determined if (We/W0) and (Wf/W0) can be estimated called empty weight
estimation and fuel fraction estimation respectively.
Weight of fuel and crew is zero in our case as we are considering a battery operated remote
controlled aircraft. Also the weight of the motor is considered separately. So,
Wfuel = 0; Wcrew= 0 (12)
Equation 1 becomes,
W0 = Wpayload +Wempty+ Wmotor (13)
In the conceptual design phase of the airplane whether it is manned or unmanned, first step is to
estimate the take-off gross weight. It is an initial rough estimate that gives the “ball-park” figure.
(Eq. 6)
Since, payload weight is known from requirements, fuel and empty weights are both dependent
on total take-off weight. Therefore the equation becomes:-
𝑊 𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
W0 = 𝑊 𝑀𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑊 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑦
(14)
1− −
𝑊 𝐺𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑊 𝐺𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠
Considering the following weights as rough estimates based on the various small scale
UAVsavailable:-
[Link] DESCRIPTION WEIGHTS (GRAMS)
1 Motor 350
2 Payload 150
3 Propeller 30
4 Servos 120
5 First person view camera 50
6 Telemetry 30
7 Structure 2000
8 Battery 370
Table 1: Rough estimate of UAV parts

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Rough Weights of Components:

From the above table, WMotor= 350 grams and
WEmpty = 2600 grams. The WGuess can be any weight for the calculation purpose. Substituting all
the values in equation 6.6, we get:-

(a) First Estimate. Consider WGuess= 3010 grams, so W0 becomes

350
W0 = 350 2600 = 7525 grams
1− −
3010 3010

(b) Second Estimate. Consider WGuess= 3030 grams, so W0 becomes

350
W0 = 350 2600 = 5681 grams
1− −
3030 3030

(c) Third Estimate. Consider WGuess= 3050 grams, so W0 becomes

350
W0 = 350 2600 = 4575 grams
1− −
3050 3050

(d) Fourth Estimate. Consider WGuess= 3080 grams, so W0 becomes

350
W0 = 350 2600 = 3553.846 grams
1− −
3080 3080

(e) Fifth Estimate. Consider WGuess= 3095 grams, so W0 becomes

350
W0 = 350 2600 = 3201 grams
1− −
3095 3095

(f) Sixth Estimate. Consider WGuess= 3100 grams, so W0 becomes

350
W0 = 350 2600 = 3100 grams
1− −
3100 3100

So it is estimated that the gross take-off weight of the aircraft would be about 3100 grams.

Airfoil Selection
Initially three airfoils viz., Clark Y, Senig-Donovan 7032 and Senig-Ashok
Gopalaratnam (SA) 7035 were considered for flow analysis using ANSYS software to find out
lift and drag produced by them at 20m/s and SA 7035 was the best choice due to its high lift and
low drag as compared to other options. This airfoil was finalized for the UAV. A rectangular
mono wing with high wing mounts of a span 04 metres and chord length of 0.3 metres was
selected. The other characteristics of SD 7035 are as follows:-
𝑏 4
(a) Aspect Ratio. ( 𝑠 ) = 0.3 = 13.34
(b) Cl max of airfoil is 1.4
2𝑊 2 ∗ 6.83
(c) Stall Speed. = = 9.8 ft/sec
𝜌 𝑆 𝐶𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥 0.0765 ∗ 13.13𝑓𝑡 ∗ 1.4

2𝑊 2 ∗ 6.83
(d) Take off Speed.1.2 = 1.2 = 11.8ft/sec.
𝜌 𝑆 𝐶𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥 0.076∗ 13.13∗ 1.4

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𝜌∗(1.15∗𝑉𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙 )2 ∗ 𝑆∗0.9∗ 𝐶𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥

(e) Load Factor. 𝜌∗(𝑉𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙 )2 ∗ 𝑆 ∗ 𝐶𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥
0.0765 ∗(1.15∗9.8)2 ∗ 13.13 ∗ 0.9 ∗1.4
= = 1.19
0.076∗(9.8)2 ∗13.13∗1.4
(f) Velocity during flare. 1.15 ∗ 𝑉𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 12.054 ft/sec
(g) Touch down velocity. 1.23 ∗ 𝑉𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 11.27 ft/sec.
Note: Dry air has a density of 0.076 lb/ft3
S = Wing Area = 13.13 ft2

Fig 2. Airfoil Coordinates

Fig 3. Internal design of Wing with Ribs And Spar

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Fig 4. Full Wing Span

Fig [Link] of asmall scale UAV

CFD Analysis
CFD is the art of replacing the differential equation governing the Fluid Flow, with a set of
algebraic equations (the process is called discretization), which in turn can be solved with the aid
of a digital computer to get an approximate solution. After importing UAV components into
Ansys we define the analysis types by applying loads and initial conditions for the finite element
solution. During mesh generation loading boundary conditions of inlet outlet wall and symmetry
conditions are then applied to this elements and nodes of the UAV wing structure. For simulation
of fluid flow analysis the UAV model was transferred to CFX/ FLUENT pre-processor. In this
process details for fluid and solid domains were assigned. Material used for fluid type domain in

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Fig 6. After applying nodes

our case is air at 250 C. Inlet and outlet details in fluid and Boundary Conditions were applied
prior flow analysis we obtain the pressure counter and velocity streamline of fluid flow.

Grid generation
The sub- division of the flow domain into a number of smaller, non-overlapping sub-
domains is the concept behind Grid generation. Accuracy of a solution, calculation time and cost
in terms of necessary computer hardware are dependent on the fineness of the grid. Over 50% of
time spent in industry on a CFD project is devoted to the definition of domain geometry and grid
generation.

Fig [Link] modelled geometry of wing

Flow analysis of wing
One of the most important criteria for any aircraft design is airfoil selection for its major
lift producing surface called main plane or wing. The three airfoils viz., Clark Y, SD7032 and
SA7035 were studied in ANSYS for the lift and drag at 20 m/s. The best results for Lift and Drag
were that of SA7035. The Static pressure and the force reports are as follows: -

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Fig 8.(a) Static Pressure and (b) Force Report of SA 7035

SA7035 was found to have the highest lift and lowest drag among the three, so this airfoil was
finalized for the UAV. The wing was again studied for various flow parameters at different
angles of attack and structural loads. The critical values were studied for setting up a safe flying
envelope.

Fig 9 (a) Pressure coefficient (b) Force Report of Senig A 7035 at 4° Angle of Attack

Fig 10.(a) Pressure coefficient (b) Force Report of Senig A 7035 at 8° Angle of Attack

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Fig 11.(a) Pressure coefficient (b) Force Report of Senig A 7035 at 12° Angle of Attack

Fig 12.(a) Pressure coefficient (b) Force Report of Senig A 7035 at 16° Angle of Attack
As per analysis, the stall angle is between 8 degrees and 12 degrees when the drag increases
[Link] 12 deg there is a clear indication of flow separation near quarter chord region
which can be considered as the main cause of Stall. It was also found that at 16 degrees, drag is
more than lift which clearly indicates stalling of the wing. After simulating the stall angle with
help of ANSYS Flow density, Contour of Total Pressure and effect of turbulence was also
observed for any unusual behavior. With the chosen airfoil, chord, span and wind loading it was
found that the aerodynamic design of wing is optimal and efficient without any unusual flow
separation at higher angle of attacks.

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Fig [Link] Density over Wing

Fig [Link] Pressure Coefficient

Fig 15. Turbulent Velocity over Wing

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Wing designed with SA7035 airfoil was also considered at a dihedral of 3.5 degrees for
analysis and the lift generated (net force of 1.08) was found to be lesser than the wings with nil
dihedral angle (1.5).Hence a better design for low speed small scale UAV would be a wing
without any dihedral. The force report with dihedral is as follows:-

Fig 16. Force Report of SA 7035 with a dihedral angle 3.50 and 0° Angle of Attack
The wing was subsequently considered for a taper ratio (λ) of 0.5 for analysis to find out
if the design was efficient but the lift produced was very less when compared to a taper ratio of 1
i.e., a rectangular wing. The modeling and force report is as follows:-

Fig 17. Force Report of SA 7035 with a taper ratio of 0.5 and 0° Angle of Attack

Structural analysis of wing

In order to determine the effects of inertial loads during manoeuvres and natural
frequencies, a Dynamic analysis was also performed. Dynamic analysis comprised of
deformation calculations due to inertial loads at higher load factors and estimation of natural
frequencies and mode shapes.

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Fig 18. Stress Intensity over Wing

Fig 19. Directional Deformation of Wing under Stress

Fig 20. Strain Energy

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Discussion
With an aim to obtain an efficient wing for a long range and long endurance small scale
UAV an iterative design an selection process was followed. The salient features of the wing are
as follows:-
(i) Static Pressure Distribution: It was observed that the static pressure rapidly increases
as the angle of attack increased from 8 degrees to 12 degrees indicating that the stall
angle lies in that region. Also at 16 degrees, the drag is more than lift which clearly
indicates stalling of the wing. Stall should develop progressively from root to tip
which is ideal Stall Progression (Fig 8 to 12).

Angle of Attack (in Lift (in N) Drag (in N)

Deg)
4 15.44 3.37
8 22.56 13.56
12 30.08 29.08
16 33.08 36.36

(ii) Aspect Ratio: To obtain long range, therefore, the designer is driven to design an
aircraft which will cruise at high altitude and have a long wing in order to reduce the
induced drag at high altitude. This results in a very slender wing of aspect ratio
perhaps in the range 20–25 which then gives a structural design challenge to achieve
it without incurring excess weight. The Aspect Ratio in our case (small scale UAV)
was optimally obtained (13.34) keeping in mind the structural strength through stress
analysis in an iterative process.

(iii) Contour of Turbulence: It is required to study the contour of turbulence on wing to

obtain the advantage of lower response to air turbulence and the versatility of hover
around a selected way-point and low-speed flight (for better endurance and low
noise). An indicative measure of the response to air turbulence of an aircraft, and to
some degree its relative aerodynamic efficiency, may be given by the ratio ˄of its
surface area to its mass. The larger the surface area, the more it may be disturbed by
aerodynamic forces. The greater its mass, so greater will be its inertia (resistance) to
the imposed forces. Using the scaling laws, it may be seen that the area/mass ratio ˄
will vary as n/ρD, the linear dimension ratio n divided by the packaging density ρD
(Fig 13, 15).

(iv) Dihedral: provides lateral stability to aircraft during its rolls. However, it comes with
a cost that is decreased roll rate and increased drag which was quite evident from the

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Force Report of our analysis. Hence for mall scale UAV there is nil requirement of
anhedral or dihedral (Fig 16).

(v) Taper [Link] selection of optimum wing span thus requires an analysis of much
more than just cruise drag and structural weight. Here, again, a diverse set of
considerations are important. The major design goal is to keep the taper ratio as small
as possible (to keep the wing weight down) without excessive Cl variation or
unacceptable stalling characteristics. Since the lift distribution is nearly elliptical, the
chord distribution should be nearly elliptical for uniform Cl's. Reduced lift or t/c
outboard would permit lower taper ratios (Fig 17).

(vi) Structural [Link] studies on aircraft failures indicate that the main cause
of wing failure is due to fatigue cracks which nucleate from the wing root region. The
stress intensity shows a red zone at the root and half chord region. Hence it is apt to
strengthen the mid spar of the wing (Fig 18 to 20).

Conclusion
An old military adage which is quite apt for civilian usage too, links the use of UAVs to
roles which are dull, dirty or dangerous (DDD). There may be much truth in that but if you add
surveillance, covert, diplomatic, research, environmental like critical roles then the dynamism of
present day UAV is complete. In addition, the economics of operation are often to the advantage
of the UAV [12]. This study of ours proves that though the design of any aircraft is a compromise
between several aims the various important parameters and features can be tweaked to achieve
desired result in terms of maximum efficiency, better L/D ratio and stall characters.

REFERENCES
[1] Raymer, DP. Aircraft design: A conceptual approach, Reston, VA: American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 2006.
[2] Roskam, J. Airplane design, Part I: Preliminary sizing of airplanes, Lawrence, KS: DARcorp,
1990
[3] Roskam, J. Airplane design, Part I: Preliminary sizing of aircraft, Lawrence, KS: DARcorp,
2005
[4] [Link], K.A. Hashim and A.M. Samad, “Aerial Mapping using High Resolution Digital
Camera and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Geographical Information System;”2010 6th
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[5] [Link] and [Link], “Evaluation of Bare Ground on Rangelands using
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[6] B. Ravi Theja, Dr. M. Satyanarayana Gupta, Design and Fluid Flow Analysis of Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
[7] Computational Fluid Dynamics, Vol. I by Hoffman

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[8] ANSYS – FLUENT Training Material([Link]).

[9] Computational Fluid Dynamics by John D Anderson
[10] Christopher A. Lyon, Andy P. Broeren, Philippe Gigu`ere, Ashok Gopalarathnam, and
Michael S. Selig . Summary of Low-Speed Airfoil Data
[11] Unmanned Aircraft Systems, UAVs design, development and deployment by Reg Austin,
Aeronautical consultant

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