Numerical simulation of mechanical performances and outflow field for a rotor UAV

The applications of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) have significantly increased in the past decade. The mechanical performance and flight stability of aircraft are essential for the structural design of aircraft. In this paper, a simulation method is provided to obtain the basic flight performance data of the aircraft in the design stage, to increase the reliability of the aircraft design. finite element and computational fluid dynamics models of a rotor UAV are initially established in this study to investigate the mechanical performances and the flight stability. Then, the static deformation and stress, vibration modes, and outflow field characteristics are obtained. The results show that the UAV has good strength, stiffness, and flight stability. Moreover, the 7th to 19th order free vibration modes could be excited during the increase of rotational speed. The rotational speeds that excite the vibration modes should be avoided in the flight.