• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.44-51
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• 2017

An ultra light quad-rotor is utilized in various areas for military and commercial purpose. Especially, the airframe shape is designed with various airframe size, weight and purpose. In this paper, the initial airframe shape of the quad-rotor was designed and manufactured. Flight test was conducted for the quad-rotor. The design modification of airframe shape was conducted to meet design requirement. By changing design, weight of airframe structure was reduced and payloads were placed to the best position. By reinforcing ribs and reducing vehicle's legs, the durability of airframe structure was enhanced.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.27-33
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• 2014

There are several methods to improve the flight efficiency of HALE(High Altitude Long Endurance) UAV(Unmaned Aerial Vehicle). Airframe structural point of view, weight reduction of the airframe structure is the most important method to improve the flight efficiency. In order to reduce the weight of airframe structures, new concepts which are different from traditional airframe structure design such as the mylar wing skin should be introduced. The spar is the most important component in a mylar skin wing structure, so the spar weight reduction is the key point for reduction of the wing structural weight. In this study, design trade-off study for the front spar of the HALE UAV wing is conducted in order to reduce the weight. Design and analysis procedure of high aspect ratio wing spar are introduced. Several front spar structures are designed and trade-off study regarding the weight and strength for the each spar are performed. Spar design configurations are verified by the static strength test. Finally, optimal front spar design is decided and applied to the HALE UAV wing design.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.723-734
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• 2018

A structural weight estimation methodology for the multicopter design process is presented. In general, a multicopter is composed of an airframe, motors, propellers, battery and so on. Among these, the weight of motors, propellers and battery can be obtained from the weight trends with respect to design parameters. However, the structural weight is hard to be estimated due to the various configurations and design concepts of multicopters. Moreover, the airframe weights of most commercial multicopter products are not provided. Thus, an accurate airframe weight model is required for the reliable mutlcopter design process. Firstly, the standard configuration of multicopters is defined. Then, we proposed the structural weight estimation method using the number and diameter of propellers determined from the initial step of sizing process. Finally, we validated our suggested method using the commerical products.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.424-429
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• 2008

Aircraft flutter analysis model consists of dynamic FE model and aerodynamic model. Dynamic FE model is composed of stiffness and mass model, and is used for the prediction of normal mode characteristics of the structure. Since aircraft flutter analysis is normally performed in the modal domain, dynamic FE model shall be constructed to describe the modal characteristics of the structure with sufficient accuracy. In this study, dynamic FE modeling method was described using full airframe FE model and structural and system weight data for aircraft flutter analysis. In addition, full airframe dynamic FE model for composite small aircraft was constituted for normal mode and flutter analysis, and the mass modeling results were compared with the target weight data to validate the mass modeling method proposed. Finally, full airframe flutter analysis of composite small aircraft was performed with the dynamic FE model and the aerodynamic model composed.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.651-661
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• 2017

A truss-braced wing (TBW) aircraft has recently received increasing attention due to higher aerodynamic efficiency compared to conventional cantilever wing aircraft. For conceptual TBW aircraft design, we developed a propulsion-and-airframe integrated design environment by replacing a semi-empirical turbofan engine model with a thermodynamic cycle-based one built upon the numerical propulsion system simulation (NPSS). The constructed NPSS model benefitted TBW aircraft design study, as it could handle engine installation effects influencing engine fuel efficiency. The NPSS model also contributed to broadening TBW aircraft design space, for it provided turbofan engine design variables involving a technology factor reflecting progress in propulsion technology. To effectively consolidate the NPSS propulsion model with the TBW airframe model, we devised a rapid, approximate substitute of the NPSS model by reduced-order modeling (ROM) to resolve difficulties in model integration. In addition, we formed an artificial neural network (ANN) that associates engine component attributes evaluated by object-oriented weight analysis of turbine engine (WATE++) with engine design variables to determine engine weight and size, both of which bring together the propulsion and airframe system models. Through propulsion-andairframe design space exploration, we optimized TBW aircraft design for fuel saving and revealed that a simple engine model neglecting engine installation effects may overestimate TBW aircraft performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.35-43
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• 2017

Research for solar-powered high altitude long endurance(HALE) UAV was conducted by Korea Aerospace Research Institute(KARI), and the EAV-3 with 19.5m wing span was developed. For HALE flight, aircraft should be lightly designed. Especially, airframe structure that accounts for a large portion of the total weight of aircraft should be lightweight. In this paper, development process of airframe structure for solar-powered HALE UAV, EAV-3, is described briefly. Domestic developed T-800 grade CFRP(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) composite material with high modulus and strength was used to design main load carrying structures. Flightloads analysis that takes into account large structural deformation was carried out. Stress and flutter analyses for airframe structure sizing were conducted. Static strength test for main wing and aircraft ground vibration test were conducted successfully and structural integrity was secured.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2020

Regarding previously-developed drone simulators, it was easy to check their flight stability or controlling functions based on the condition that their weight was fixed from the design. However, the drone is largely classified into two types that is the one with the fixed weight whose purpose is recording video with camera and racing and another is whole weight-variable during flight with loading the articles for delivery and spraying pesticide though the weight of airframe is fixed. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the structure of drone and its flight principle, suggest dynamics-model-based simulator that is capable of simulating weight-variable drone and develop the simulator that can be used for designing main control board, motor and transmission along the application of weight-variable drone. Weight-variable simulator was developed by using various calculation to apply flying method of drone to the simulator. First, ground coordinate system and airframe-fixing coordinate system were established and switching matrix of those two coordinates were made. Then, dynamics model of drone was established using the law of Newton and moment balance principle. Dynamics model was established in Simulink platform and simulation experiment was carried out by changing the weight of drone. In order to evaluate the validity of developed weight-variable simulator, it was compared to the results of clean flight public simulator against existing weight-fixed drone. Lastly, simulation test was performed with the developed weight-variable simulation by changing the weight of drone. It was found out that dynamics model controlled various flying positions of drone well from simulation and the possibility of securing the optimum condition of weight-variable drone that has flying stability and easiness of controlling.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.68-73
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• 2014

Research is being carried out at Korea Aerospace Research Institute with aim of design a HALE UAV(High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle). HALE UAVs are ideally suited to provide surveillance, remote sensing and communication relay capabilities for both military and civilian applications. HALE UAVs typically cruise at an altitude between 15 km and 20 km, travelling at low speed and circling specific area of interest. Airframe structural point of view, weight reduction of the airframe structure is the most important method to improve the flight efficiency. High modulus CFRP(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) has been used in designing the structure in order to minimize the airframe weight. With respect to structural design and analysis, the key question is to decide an adequate airworthiness certification base to define suitable load cases for sizing of various structural components. In this study, FAR(Federal Aviation Regulation) 23 have constituted the guidance and benchmark throughout all structural studies. And the MSC/FlightLoads was introduced to analyze the flight loads for the HALE UAV. The MSC/FlightLoads can compute the flexible air load and analyzed loads are distributed on structural model directly. A preliminary structural concept was defined in accordance with the estimated inertial and aerodynamic loads. A FEM analysis was carried out using the MSC/Nastran code to predict the static and dynamic behaviour of UAV structure.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.69-77
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• 2020

Airframe structure development of the 35 kg class 'Disaster and Public Safety Multicopter' UAV is described in this paper. To reduce the airframe weight, T-700 grade CFRP composite material was used, and the fuselage was designed with the semi-monocoque structure and plate installed with the control and communication devices designed in a sandwich structure. The specimen tests for the laminated plate and pipe were conducted to verify the strength and stiffness of the designed parts. The stacking sequence of composite materials was determined by the static strength and vibration analysis, and landing gear strut was designed by the nonlinear analysis with decent speed and ground clearance requirements. The static strength test was performed to evaluate the structural integrity and to verify the landing gear behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2013

Human Powered Aircraft (HPA) should be light in weight and have high efficiency because power source of propulsion is human muscles. Airframe structure takes up most of empty weight of aircraft, so weight reduction of structure is very important issue for HPA. In this paper, design/analysis/test procedures for ultra light weight structure of the HPA developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) are explained briefly. Structural design is conducted through case studies on HPA in the USA and Japan. Loads analysis is performed to calculate design loads which is needed for structural design and analysis. Structural analysis is conducted for structure sizing. Static strength test of main wing spar which is primary structure of wing is performed to verify structural integrity.