AERODYNAMIC DESIGN OF A LONG-RANGE UAV FOR STRATEGIC MONITORING MISSIONS

Abstract

The great development of the aviation industry in recent years has allowed to extend its field of application from the military to the civilian field. The use of UAVs to perform high-risk missions, as well as immediate action, allows the development of research in the area of UAVs. The manufacturing of a UAV for monitoring and video surveillance applications requires an adequate design and modeling of the system. One of the main characteristics for a stable flight of a UAV is its aerodynamic design, since this depends on the application for which it is built. This paper presents the aerodynamic design and modeling of the UAV, as well as its trajectory simulation and the construction of a functional UAV for strategic missions. The project was developed within a knowledge exchange agreement between the Ecuadorian Armed Forces (FAE) and the Technical University of Ambato (UTA). The analysis of the different airfoils allowed to determine that the S4083 airfoil, part of the 4-digit family of the NACA airfoil, is the most suitable for the proposed system, allowing to achieve average flight times of 3 hours, with the inclusion of a solar power source incorporated in the UAV wings.