Xiaopeng Yang

Over twenty Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SPUAV) designs exist worldwide, yet few have successfully achieved uninterrupted high-altitude flight. This shortfall is attributed to several factors that cause the actual performance of SPUAV to fall short of expectations. Existing studies identify the propeller slipstream as one of these adverse factors, which leads to a decrease in the lift–drag ratio and an increase in energy consumption. However, traditional design methods for SPUAVs tend to ignore the potential adverse effects of slipstream at the top-level design phase. We find that this oversight results in a reduction in the feasible mission region of SPUAVs from 109 days to only 46 days. To address this issue, this paper presents a high-fidelity multidisciplinary design framework for the energy/propulsion systems of SPUAVs that integrates the effects of a propeller slipstream. Specifically, deep neural networks are employed to predict the lift–drag characteristics of SPUAVs under various slipstream conditions, and the energy performance is further analyzed by evaluating the time-varying state parameters throughout a day. Subsequently, the optimal solutions for the energy/propulsion systems specific to certain latitudes and dates are obtained through optimization design. The effectiveness of the proposed design framework was demonstrated on a 30-m wingspan SPUAV. The results indicated that, compared to the traditional design method, the proposed approach led to designs that more effectively accomplished closed-loop flight in designated regions and prevented the reduction of the feasible mission region. Additionally, through the targeted retrofit of the energy/propulsion systems, SPUAVs exhibited enhanced adaptability to the solar radiation characteristics of different mission points, resulting in a further expansion of the feasible mission region. Furthermore, this research also explored the variation trends in optimal solutions across different latitudes and dates and investigated the reasons and physical mechanisms behind these variations.

Ultra-high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle raises a high demand for the efficiency of propeller at low Reynolds numbers. An optimization method for low Reynolds number propeller is established by iterative optimizations of the sectional airfoils and the chord, pitch distributions in this paper. Different from the traditional method, each sectional airfoil is continuously optimized under the specific Reynolds number and lift coefficient which are updated with the iteration in the proposed method. Adopting this method, the propeller for an ultra-high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle is optimized. And the result shows that the optimized propeller can achieve 3.6% higher efficiency than the propeller designed by the traditional Betz method at the cruising condition (Re≈4.0×10⁴).

Currently, several solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have achieved 24 h uninterrupted cruise. However, models that can cruise for weeks or even months without interruption are in the minority. The technological progress requires the improvement of subsystems and also depends on the accurate planning of flight profile and power spectrum in a long working cycle. Combined with the test data obtained during the development of a solar-powered UAV, this paper establishes systematic mathematical and physical models of aerodynamic, energy, and propulsion systems, which can reflect the change in performance parameters with flight conditions and the performance attenuation with time. Further, a track control strategy based on the principle of maximum energy utilization is proposed, and the energy balance model of each flight stage is established. On the basis of the strategy, the typical flight profile and power spectrum of a solar-powered UAV are analyzed. Finally, the input parameters are decomposed into task parameters (takeoff time window, flight season, flight latitude, takeoff weight) and performance parameters (lift–drag ratio, secondary battery density), and their effects on mission feasibility are studied respectively. The research methods and conclusions of this paper have reference significance for the mission and track planning of solar-powered UAVs.

Flexible membrane structure is generally used as wing skin for long-endurance low-speed aircraft, such as solar aircraft, to control the structure weight within the allowable range. Predictably, the elastic deformation of the membrane under complex loads will cause uncertain impacts on the aerodynamic performance. The existing research indicates that the deformation of the membrane wing is helpful to improve the aerodynamic characteristics. However, most of the research objects are non-thickness membrane wings. In this paper, wind tunnel experiments are performed on double membrane wings. The experiment results indicate that the membrane deformation behavior is related to the surface curvature distribution and will change the camber and thickness of the airfoil. The deformation has little effect on lift but has a significant effect on drag and pitching moment. On this basis, a high-precision fluid structure coupling analysis method for the wider range of research is introduced. The numerical analysis indicates that the deformation can delay the stall angle by 1°. Furthermore, based on the numerical results, suggestions on prestress setting during membrane skin laying are provided, and the numerical simulation results of two flexible skin wings are compared. The research results of this paper provide a scientific basis for the aerodynamic design and analysis of long-endurance low-speed aircraft.

Ultra-high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles have created a high demand for the performance of propellers under low Reynolds numbers, while the efficiency of such propellers by the existing design framework has reached a bottleneck. This paper explores the possibility of extending the Gurney flap on low Reynolds number propellers to achieve efficiency breakthrough. An iterative optimization strategy for propellers with Gurney flaps is established, in which cross-sectional airfoils can be continuously optimized under updated Reynolds numbers and lift coefficients. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation based on the γ-Re_θ model was used as an aerodynamic analysis method. Propellers with and without Gurney flaps were optimized successively. Optimal results were analyzed using the CFD method. Results showed that an optimal propeller with a Gurney flap can achieve an efficiency of 82.0% in cruising conditions, which is 1.8% higher than an optimal propeller without a Gurney flap. Compared with the latter, the consumed power of the optimal propeller with a Gurney flap can be reduced by 2.2% with the same advance speed. Furthermore, the variation of the improvement by the Gurney flap propeller, along with its Reynolds number, was studied. A wind tunnel test indicates that the performance of the propellers obtained by the CFD method are in good agreement with the test results.