• 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.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
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• 2016.03a
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• pp.175-182
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• 2016

Recently, carbon fiber-reinforced composite is widely used in many aerospace applications. Among most of the aerospace vehicles, human-powered aircraft essentially uses it for minimizing the weight of the vehicle and gaining high stiffness to increase its efficiency. In this paper, main wing spar of the human-powered aircraft is investigated. Finite element models were created based on the baseline model built in 2013 to make analysis of cross-section of the spar with varying ply angles of each layer of the spar. Objective function, which is affected from bending rigidity, torsional rigidity, and strength ratio, was evaluated for every cases. The model of 2013 and present cases were put into comparison by values evaluated from objective function. From the comparison, it was concluded that there are more chances to improve the baseline model to make the vehicle better in stiffness and weight than the model of 2013.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.215-221
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• 2017

An electromagnetic (EM) wave absorber reduces the possibility of radar detection by minimizing the radar cross section (RCS) of structures. In this study, a radar absorbing structure (RAS) was applied to the leading edge of a blended wing body aircraft to reduce RCS in X-band (8.2~12.4GHz) radar. The RAS was composed of a periodic pattern resistive sheet with conductive lossy material and glass-fiber/epoxy composite as a spacer. The applied RAS is a multifunctional composite structure which has both electromagnetic (EM) wave absorbing ability and load-bearing ability. A two dimensional unit absorber was designed first in a flat-plate shape, and then the fabricated leading edge structure incorporating the above RAS was investigated, using simulated and free-space measured reflection loss data from the flat-plate absorber. The leading edge was implemented on the aircraft, and its RCS was measured with respect to various azimuth angles in both polarizations (VV and HH). The RCS reduction effect of the RAS was evaluated in comparison with a leading edge of carbon fabric reinforced plastics (CFRP). The designed leading edge structure was examined through static structural analysis for various aircraft load cases to check structural integrity in terms of margin of safety. The mechanical and structural characteristics of CFRP, RAS and CFRP with RAM structures were also discussed in terms of their weight.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.18-31
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• 2018

Rotorcrafts have more severe crashworthiness conditions than fixed wing aircraft owing to VTOL and hovering. Recently, with the increasing demand for highly efficient transportation system, application of composite materials to aircraft structures is increasing. However, due to the characteristics of composite materials that are susceptible to impact and crash, demand to prove the crashworthiness of composite structures is also increasing. The purpose of present study is to derive the structural concept of composite subfloor for rotorcrafts and verify it. In order to design a crashworthy composite subfloor, the conceptual design of the testbed helicopter for the demonstration and the derivation of energy absorbing requirement were carried out, and the composite energy absorber was designed and verified. Finally, the testbed for the demonstration of a crashworthy composite structure was fabricated, and performed free drop test. It was confirmed that the test results meet the criteria for ensuring occupant survivability.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.122-128
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• 2018

A compound drone that combines a fixed wing and a rotary wing is an aircraft that can take off and landing vertically, and can increase flight time and fly faster with fixed wings. The compound drones are divided into many types depending on the method of adding the thrust vectoring or the lift fan and the position of the rotor. In this study, we designed and fabricated a composite drone with four V-TOL motors in a fixed-wing, and assigned missions to the aviation body, hence judged mission accuracy using the actual flight test. The design process and the mission evaluation process employed in this study can be utilized on the development of various unmanned aerial vehicle.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.132-138
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• 2016

Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is developing an electric-driven HALE UAV in order to secure system and operational technologies since 2010. Based on the flight tests and design experiences of the previously developed electric-driven UAVs, KARI has designed EAV-3, a solar-powered HALE UAV. EAV-3 weighs 53kg, the structure weight is 22kg, and features a flexible wing of 19.5m in span with the aspect ratio of 17.4. Designing the main wing and empennage of the EAV-3 the amount of the bending due to the flexible wing, 404mm at 1-G flight condition based on T-800 composite material, and side wind effects due to low cruise speed, $V_{cr}=6m/sec$, are carefully considered. Also, unlike the general aircraft there is no center of gravity shift during the flight because of the EAV-3 is the solar-electric driven UAV. Thus, static margin cuts down to 28.4% and center of gravity moves back to 31% of the Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC) comparing with the previously designed the EAV-2 and EAV-2H/2H+ to upgrade the flight performance of the EAV-3.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.353-369
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• 2020

This paper presents the flutter analysis and optimum design of axially functionally graded box beam cantilever wing section by considering various geometric and material parameters. The coupled dynamic equations of the continuous model of wing system in terms of material and cross-sectional properties are formulated based on extended Hamilton's principle. By expressing the lift and pitching moment in terms of plunge and pitch displacements, the resultant two continuous equations are simplified using Galerkin's reduced order model. The flutter velocity is predicted from the solution of resultant damped eigenvalue problem. Parametric studies are conducted to know the effects of geometric factors such as taper ratio, thickness, sweep angle as well as material volume fractions and functional grading index on the flutter velocity. A generalized surrogate model is constructed by training the radial basis function network with the parametric data. The optimized material and geometric parameters of the section are predicted by solving the constrained optimal problem using firefly metaheuristics algorithm that employs the developed surrogate model for the function evaluations. The trapezoidal hollow box beam section design with axial functional grading concept is illustrated with combination of aluminium alloy and aluminium with silicon carbide particulates. A good improvement in flutter velocity is noticed by the optimization.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2019

As the industrial desire for a step change in productivity within the manufacture of composite structures increases, so does the interest in Through-Thickness Reinforcement technologies. As manufacturers look to increase the production rate, whilst reducing cost, Through-Thickness Reinforcement technologies represent valid methods to reinforce structural joints, as well as providing a potential alternative to mechanical fastening and bolting. The use of tufting promises to resolve the typically low delamination resistance, which is necessary when it comes to creating intersections within complex composite structures. Emerging methods include the use of 3D woven connectors, and orthogonally intersecting fibre packs, with the components secured by the selective insertion of microfasteners in the form of tufts. Intersections of this type are prevalent in aeronautical applications, as a typical connection to be found in aircraft wing structures, and their intersections with the composite skin and other structural elements. The common practice is to create back-to-back composite "L's", or to utilise a machined metallic connector, mechanically fastened to the remainder of the structure. 3D woven connectors and selective Through-Thickness Reinforcement promise to increase the ultimate load that the structure can bear, whilst reducing manufacturing complexity, increasing the load carrying capability and facilitating the automated production of parts of the composite structure. This paper provides an overview of the currently available methods for creating intersections within composite structures and compares them to alternatives involving the use of 3D woven connectors, and the application of selective Through-Thickness Reinforcement for enhanced damage tolerance. The use of tufts is investigated, and their effect on the load carrying ability of the structure is examined. The results of mechanical tests are presented for each of the methods described, and their failure characteristics examined.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.480-488
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• 2012

The aircrafts with high aspect ratio wings made by a composite material have been developed, which enable high energy efficiency and long-term flight by reducing air resistance and structural weight. However, they have difficulties in securing the aeroelastic stability such as the flutter because of their long and flexible wings. The flutter is unstable self-excited-vibration caused by interaction between the structural dynamics and the aerodynamics. It should be verified analytically prior to first flight test that the flutter does not happen in the range of flight mission. Normally, the finite element model is used for the flutter analysis. So it is important to construct the finite element model representing dynamic characteristics similar to those of a real aircraft. Accordingly, in this research, to acquire dynamic characteristics experimentally the modal test of the aircraft with high aspect ratio composite wings was conducted. And then the modal parameters from the finite element analysis(FEA) were compared with those from the modal test. To make analysis results closer to test results, the finite element model was updated by means of the sensitivity analysis on variables and the optimization. Finally, it was proved that the updated finite element model is reliable as compared with the results of the modal test.

• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2014

In this study, it was performed damage assessment and repair of small scale aircraft adopted on composite. This aircraft adopted the sandwich structure to skin of wing. This study aims to investigate the residual strength of sandwich composites with nomex honeycomb core and carbon fiber face sheets after the open hole damage by the experimental investigation. The 4-point bending tests were used to find the bending strength, and the open hole was applied to introduce the simulated damage on the specimen. The bending strength test results after open hole were compared with the results of no damaged specimen test. In addition, The damaged composite structure was repaired using external patch repair method after removing damaged area. After that, this study presents comparison results of the experimental investigation between the damaged and the repaired specimen. It was found that the bending strength of repaired specimen was recovered up to 95% of undamaged specimen.