Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization (한국가시화정보학회지)

The Korean Society of Visualization (한국가시화정보학회)
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An Experimental Study on the Wake Characteristics of a Quadrotor UAV

쿼드로터형 무인비행체의 후류 특성에 관한 실험적 연구

  • Lee, Seungcheol (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Chae, Seokbong (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Kim, Jooha (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)
  • Received : 2018.03.22
  • Accepted : 2018.04.03
  • Published : 2018.04.30
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Abstract

In the present study, we investigate the flow characteristics of a quadrotor UAV in a hovering mode by measuring multiple two-dimensional velocity fields in the wake. The experiment is conducted at Re = 24,000 in a chamber large enough to neglect the ground effect, where Re is the Reynolds number based on the rotor chord length and the rotor tip speed. The rotational speed of the rotor is determined by an optical tachometer so that the lift force can be balanced with the weight of the UAV. The velocity field measured on the center plane of the rotor shows that the vortices are shedding from the tip of the rotor, inducing large fluctuations in the streamwise velocity along the wake shear layer. The strength of the rotor-tip vortex shedding is asymmetric with respect to the rotor axis due to the interaction between the rotor and the wake centerline of each rotor is inclined to the center of the UAV due to the pressure difference caused by the induced velocity. The wake from each rotor moves closer to each other while traveling in the streamwise direction, and then is merged together inducing large fluctuations in the transverse velocity. Due to the wake merging, on the center plane of the UAV, the velocity increases in the streamwise direction showing two-peak structure in the streamwise velocity contours.

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References

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