Design of Elevons, Wings, and Performance Investigation for A Blended Wing Body UAV

Abstract

Objectives: To study a hybrid VTOL- Blended wing body design for its wings and elevons and perform CFD simulations with the wings. The steps for designing wing configuration and Elevon positioning involve different variables giving rise to a large number of design possibilities for a control surface. In the current study methods, have been proposed for the selection of optimized wing configuration and elevons positioning and validated with simulations model. Methods: Meta-heuristic methods like genetic algorithms are used for arriving at favorable solutions and Matlab coding is written for the initial draft of wing geometry, selected geometries are iterated in XFLR5 for stability and control, and later validated with simulations around the fluid domain. Elevons are control surfaces generally installed in tailless aircraft at the wing's trailing edge. It applies to roll and pitching force to wings as it combines the functionality of both pitching and rolling control. Design space was mathematically plotted and solved using MATLAB to decide elevons, wing configuration, and their positions.Findings: Initial selection of wing geometry, aoa, and structural design for maneuverability and stability for the enhanced aerodynamic performance of BWB UAV. In this presented paper drag coefficient of the designed BWB UAV comes out to be precisely around 0.02216 using computational modeling. Variation curve of Lift and drag coefficient with aspect ratio and angle of attack. Post-processing results of pressure forces and velocity profile on Wings accurately validate the proposed method of control surface optimization. Novelty: Designed BWB UAV has increased lift to drag ratio, reduced weight of airframe which improves performance. The Design phase is highly iterative, Through this research paper, an attempt has been made to develop a methodology for selection and investigation of control surfaces against requirements that makes BWB UAV more helpful for practical use and increasing the lift and endurance efficiency of the hybrid VTOL- Blended wing body aircraft.