Material Augmentation for Coaxial Propellers of Titan’s Unmanned Airship: Implementation of Advanced Composites for the Propulsive System Under Unconventional Loading conditions with Incorporation of Structural Integrity Examinations

Exploration vehicles on Titan are to be developed with considerations on the atmosphere present, especially the abundance of Nitrogen. This study focuses on identification of optimum materials for the propellers supporting an airship specifically created for Titan exploration. The base airship is designed to accommodate the coaxial propeller. The base of this airship is to be developed with four weather stations for collection of data samples. The stations are installed on inflatable platforms and have storage devices for recording and transmitting data collected by the aerobot. The airship will operate in Titan's atmosphere and atmospheric conditions, focusing on its design and computational analysis of structural effects and fluid dynamics. The Titan aerobot is built with a co-axial 4-blade propeller, horizontal and vertical fins, and a reaction wheel for yaw maneuvers. The co-axial propulsive system is capable of overcoming drag during steady level flight in the Titan atmosphere. Structural parameter research is conducted during the material selection process for the propeller, examining materials from common materials to isotropic and orthotropic composites, metal alloys, and various composites. Two-way coupling fluid structural interaction is the foundation of computational structural analysis, transferring loads from transient flow analysis to the structure. The best performing materials for each scenario are determined based on the combined results for gust loads. By importing the aerodynamic load created from the gust effects, the structural integrity incorporated with material data is determined on the basis of Equivalent stress, strain, strain energy and deformation. From the analysis conducted, it is inferred that the material GY-70 fiber-based composite, belonging to Carbon fiber category, is seen to be providing the most favorable results with comparatively less deformation, hence providing optimum materials for the unconventional conditions provided.