CC BY
86
НАУЧНЫЙ ВЕСТНИК МГТУ ГА серия Студенческая наука
УДК 338.121.001.76
AERO DESIGN 2006 PROJECT
BARTOSZ GIERASIMIUK Статья представлена доктором технических наук, профессором П. Волянским
1. SAE, Warsaw Collegiate Club and Aero Design 2006 EAST competition
The Society of Automotive Engineers is an American organization associating thousands of engineers from all over the world. SAE is also an institution establishing standards that are commonly respected and applied to industry.
At every prestigious American university there is a student’s collegiate club of SAE. In 1991, SAE collegiate club was also established at Warsaw University of Technology. Since that time, students from our university had the chance to participated in the Aero Design competition many times. This very prestigious and well known event is organized by SAE in cooperation with aerospace industry. The main goal of the competition is to design and build such model of a radio controlled aircraft that would carry possibly the biggest payload on board.
The Aero Design consists of 3 stages. Just after the rules and specifications are released by the organizer, students begin designing and building models at their home universities. Once the construction is finished, teams send the design documentation to SAE, which scores received reports. Next, there is a presentation of the project to SAE and a hosting company. This part is also scored and points are added to the overall result. At the final stage, teams gather at a flying field and perform test flights with payload on board to prove their design. The highest scores go to a team that managed to lift the biggest amount of payload.
SAE Warsaw Collegiate Club won the Aero Design three times: in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Our team has been the only representation from Europe that took top places, proving high quality of university education and our professionalism in utilization of knowledge and modern engineering tools.
2. Aero Design 2006 project
The generation gap and the lack of sponsorship caused that it was in 2003 when WUT participated in the competition last time. This year motivation was high and we decided to try once again. To achieve our goal we have defined the Aero Design 2006 project and set the following objectives:
- to build model airplane according to SAE specifications.
- to participate in the Aero Design 2006 EAST competition.
3. How we achieved the project’s objectives?
To achieve our objectives we needed responsible, reliable and very motivated students, and financial support from companies, the university and the faculty.
We have divided our human resources into two teams: Engineering and PR and Logistics.
4. Engineering team - responsibilities
The engineering team was responsible for and performed the following tasks:
- Aero Design 2006 rules studies.
- Design specifications studies.
- Model design.
- Manufacturing.
- Test flights.
- Technical documentation.
- Technical presentation at the competition.
- Flights and repairs at the competition.
About 15 students were involved in this part of the project.
5. Final output on the example of the “Phoenix” model
Fig. 1. “Phoenix” from a CAD model through a prototype to the final model
The Society of Automotive Engineers and Lockheed Martin company- the Aero Design 2006 organizers, decided to put the following constraints on student’s designs:
i) No lighter-than-air or rotary wing aircraft was allowed to enter the competition.
ii) Wing span could not exceed 95 inches.
iii) An aircraft had to be powered by a single, unmodified O.S. .61FX engine.
Taking into consideration the design constraints we have obtained a model airplane configuration, characterized by the following specifications:
Wing span: 2.4 m Mean aerodynamic chord: 0.26 m Fuselage length: 0.75 m Tail boom length: 0.99 m Total length of the model: 1.69 m Total height: 0.59 Empty model mass: 3.5 kg Engine: OS MAX 0.61 FX
a) Main structure
The model airplane consists of the following main parts:
i) Wing
Fig. 2. The wing structure
The wing structure is supported by composite spar, drilled Styrofoam core and balsa sheathing along the wing length. Composite I-wing spar consists of carbon roving spar flanges and a glass-reinforced fabric web positioned at the angle of 45 degrees.
ii) Fuselage
The fuselage is made as a sandwich structure: fiberglass, green Styrofoam plus balsa
Wood of 0.08 in. and fiberglass. The structure is supported by plywood frames and most sensitive areas are reinforced by Kevlar.
Fig. 3. Fuselage composite structure and Unigraphics 3D model
iii) Tail boom
GLASS FABRIC LAYER \CARBON ROVING LAYER (45 deg) \ (Odegj
BALSA WOOD
CARBON ROVING LAYER GLASS FABRIC LAYER
(0 deg) (45 deg)
Fig. 4. Tail boom: composite structure, mount to the fuselage visualized in Unigraphics system and stress analysis in ANSYS software
The tail boom is a tapered pipe made as a composite sandwich structure, All the layers were rolled and glued together on a steel cone which was pulled out afterwards.
iv) Tail
Fig. 5. Tail section
The tail is a classic structure with vertical and horizontal stabilizer made of plywood and balsa wood covered with plastic film. Sensitive areas are reinforced with Carbon mat and Kevlar.
v) Landing gear
The main gear is mounted to the floor of the fuselage in a special tube reinforced with Kevlar-Carbon fabric structure. Main gear axle is made of 0.20 in. hardened steel bar fixed in rubber shock absorbers placed inside the tube. Wheel is made of monocoque Kevlar-Carbon fabric equipped with duralumin hub and rubber disk.
Nose wheel - consist of two duralumin circle linings and a rubber disk between them. Nose gear legs are clamped to the former of a fuselage with four screws and strengthened with duralumin covers.
Fig. 6. Landing gear. Main wheel made of Kevlar
vi) Control system
ELEVATOR
Fig. 7. Phoenix model control system consisting of 5 servomechanisms
“PHOENIX” model control system consists of 5 executive servomechanisms connected to the surface by metal push rods. Servomechanisms, used in this system, have sufficient torque and force to operate easily and reliably.
b) Performance
The model airplane we have obtained is characterized by good stability and control. It is designed for multiple take offs and landings and lifts predicted payload of 10.5 kg which was proved during test flights and the competition.
6. Public Relations and logistics team- responsibilities
The PR and logistics team was responsible for and performed the following tasks:
Public Relations
- Market studies to determine which companies would be interested in supporting
the project financially.
- Development of the PR materials to promote the proj ect among companies.
- Company contacts.
- Gaining sponsorship.
- Maintaining contact with sponsors.
Logistics
The Logistics division was responsible for an organization of the trip to the Aero Design 2006 EAST Competition. This included:
- Transportation of the representation from Warsaw to Marietta in USA.
- Model airplanes transportation from Warsaw to Marietta in USA.
- Collection of various documents and dealing with Polish and US Customs.
- Car rental.
- Accommodation and food.
- Trip schedule.
7. Short report from the competition
On April 18th 2006 the representation of Warsaw University of Technology arrived in Chicago, USA, where students were welcomed by Polish American Engineers Association of State of Illinois.
After a night spent in Chicago, the representation departed to Marietta in Georgia state, where the Aero Design competition was going to take place.
We have reached Marietta the following morning, met other teams and participated in the visit to the Lockheed Martin Marietta plant. We had the chance to see an assembly line of the F-22 Raptor fighter and C-130 aircraft.
Next day, teams from Warsaw University of Technology: Phoenix and 32Fly, presented their designs to the jury members composed of Lockheed Martin professionals. Presentations were scored high and after the second stage of the competition, the teams were on 7th and 12th place respectively.
The following two days we have spent on a flying field. It was a time of hard work and incredible stress. Although we had performed test flights yet in Warsaw, before we were gone for the competition, but still there was this uncertainty whether everything was going to work properly.
Our models were flying great, as we have anticipated, but fortune was not always with us. Due to the difficult conditions at the flying field we crashed two times. Fortunately, we had a lot of spare parts
that we could replace and thanks to great motivation and hard work of our team, we were able to continue this beautiful adventure.
Finally, we have ended up on 12th (Phoenix) and 18th (32Fly) place among 50 other teams from America, Brazil, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Aero Design 2006 it was a great adventure. We have gained unique knowledge and valuable experience and we hope that our hard work will be paying off for years.
We are looking forward to participating in the Aero Design 2007.
Fig. 8. Representation of Warsaw University of Technology at the Aero Design 2006
EAST competition. Marietta, GA; USA
Presentation by
BARTOSZ GIERASIMIUK Warsaw university of technology faculty of power and aeronautical engineering the society of automotive engineers (SAE) - Warsaw collegiate club Moscow.
