Rapid conceptual design and development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle using Morphing, Parameterization Technologies

Unmanned aerial vehicle configuration, battery package for their propulsion, range and duration of flight, multipurpose usage are few aspects that we hear quite often as parameters that product developers juggle with. During one of our product development projects related to unmanned aerial vehicle we did have similar requirements to start with. The product development timeframe was also very aggressive thus the team had to move several product validation studies to virtual. Once the aerial vehicle configuration was finalized the initial CAD data was created to serve as Numerical Master Geometry (NMG). Thanks to the Computation fluid dynamics solvers we were able to calculate the airloads / aerodynamics loads that helps us plan and package the frame and other attachments besides modularizing for battery packs. This paper presents the approach that was adopted to fast pace the early stage CFD studies of the fixed wing drone / unmanned aerial vehicle using CAD morphing, automated meshing and CFD analysis using LS DYNA Multiphysics solver. CAD Morphing methodology was used to quickly arrive at several alternatives of the NMG thus factoring in the battery stack modularity and attachments. The skin mesh modelling for CFD studies were automated using MeshWorks. The Skin mesh from MeshWorks was exported in LS DYNA format for further CFD model set up. This framework also facilitated ability to study different flight manoeuvres and gust winds. With such virtual validation studies driven by CAD Morphing, Automated meshing and fast CFD solution using LS DYNA Multiphysics it was possible to fast pace the development process and proceed till the first prototype build.