Interference Effects between Duct and Control Vane on a Micro Air Vehicle
Sheila Tobing
Tiauw Hiong Go
Roxana Vasilescu
School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore
ABSTRACT
A numerical study on the interference effects between duct and control vaneson a Vertical Takeoff and Landing Micro Air Vehicle is presented in this paper.The numerical analysis is conducted systematically with the solver first
validated before it is applied to the full vehicle simulations. Different combinations of duct and control vanes are tested to determine the interactions between the two components and their effects on the vehicle’s aerodynamics.
The simulations show that the duct influences the local flow around the control vanes. The duct redirects the flow before it passes the control vanes, alteringthe aerodynamic forces and moment generated by the vanes as well as the
vehicle. The control vanes generate lower aerodynamic forces and momentsunder the influences of the duct, compared to when they are simulated asisolated (individual) components. The over-predictions of the vehicle’s
aerodynamic forces and moments need to be taken into consideration in designing as they will introduce a high error to the design.
Keywords: micro air vehicle, component buildup, interference effect, duct,control vane
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Interference Effects between Duct and Control Vane on a Micro Air Vehicle
