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CompDesALAR_CDR_2019.pdf (18.26 MB)

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A Computational and Design Characterization for the Flowfield behind a C-130 during an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Docking

Robertson, Cole D
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563533448658585

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Aero/Astro Engineering.
The complicated fluid interactions and wake dynamics generated astern of large cargo aircraft (such as Lockheed Martin’s C-130 Hercules) present concerns for standard and novel in-flight maneuvers. In particular, the upswept portion of cargo planes produce considerable counter-rotating vortices that interrupt and endanger vehicles and people that exit or attempt to enter the cargo bay region. Additionally, when considering fluid interactions during open cargo bay operations, the flowfield is further complicated due to additional turbulent components that skew canonical coherent structures. A current research proposition by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) heavily depends on understanding the wake dynamics of full-body aircraft in order to generate best practices for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) docking and/or undocking from C-130s. This effort aims to push the current defense capabilities of UAV technologies by adding the possibility for deploying UAVs for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with minimal risk for human fatality. The initial phase and objective for this project is to determine the flowfield characteristics aft of C-130 bodies in order to provide comparable data for potential air launched and recoverable (ALAR) maneuvers. The focus encompasses a computational, trajectory-based, and control-oriented components. The computational component presents simulations and statistical flow variables using the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver in ANSYS Workbench and compares the results to current research literature. The results from the computational component reveal that the locations and paths of the vortex shedding aft of the C-130 match accepted trends found in literature. In addition to comparing the formation and stability of the upswept vortex and wingtip vortex system to fundamental bluff body wake research, the results also determine the conditions that UAVs might encounter during an ALAR mission. Several UAV trajectory paths are generated through the flowfield leading up to the C-130 in order to generate flight operating conditions and aerodynamic forces that ALAR vehicles might encounter. Ultimately, the analysis predicts an idealized flight path existing below the defined region of interest. The control-oriented component focuses on generating the aerodynamic moments of a UAV designed to perform ALAR. During the analysis, experiments performed in the subsonic wind tunnel at the Ohio State University’s (OSU) Aerospace Research Center (ARC) provide an initial estimate for the UAV’s moment derivatives. The results serve as a base condition for comparing with the computational flowfield conditions. After bounding the moment derivatives and plotting control surface deflection along the project trajectories, considerations for imminent UAV designs are discussed revealing that maximizing deflection associated moment derivatives and minimizing control variable-associated moment derivatives reduce the control surface deflections required for equilibrium-state static stability.
Clifford Whitfield (Advisor)
Richard Freuler (Committee Member)
Matthew McCrink (Committee Member)
159 p.
Aerospace Engineering
UAV, aircraft design, aircraft control, aircraft stability, computational fluid dynamics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Robertson, C. D. (2019). A Computational and Design Characterization for the Flowfield behind a C-130 during an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Docking [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563533448658585

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Robertson, Cole. A Computational and Design Characterization for the Flowfield behind a C-130 during an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Docking . 2019. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563533448658585.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Robertson, Cole. "A Computational and Design Characterization for the Flowfield behind a C-130 during an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Docking ." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563533448658585

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1563533448658585
169
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.