Parametric sensitivity study of unmanned buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle

Abstract

Buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle is a new development direction of the near space vehicle. This paper presents two conceptual schemes of unmanned buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle with different configurations. The general parameter design method is studied, and the general parameter calculation model is established. The general parameters of airship and the buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle are compared and studied. Taking buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle with single fuselage and dual wings as the research object, sensitivity analysis of parameters has been done. The results show that compared with the airship, the weight of the buoyancylifting aerial vehicle with single fuselage and dual wings is reduced by 23.0%. Weight of the buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle with dual fuselages and dual wings is increased by 55.3% compared with the aircraft with single fuselage. Lift- buoyancy coefficient and cruise speed have important influence on the general parameters of the aircraft. With the energy density of the battery increasing from 400Wh/kg to 600Wh/kg, weight of the aircraft is reduced by 58.5%. Compared with the airship, weight of the buoyancy-lifting aerial vehicle is more sensitive to the propeller efficiency.