Structural Effect based Parametric Investigations on Lightweight Materials for Propulsive System of Unmanned Airship through Fluid Structural Interaction Approach

This work proposes using an airship outfitted with four weather stations that can be quickly deployed from an inflatable platform to conduct comprehensive environmental research on Titan. To navigate Titan's rivers, the weather stations are installed on inflatable platforms. Each station has a storage device that may record and send data collected by the aerobot as it travels across the area. The aerobot is inflated just before landing so that it doesn't crash into the rivers of Titan. The proposed unmanned airship will operate in Titan's atmosphere and atmospheric conditions, so this study is primarily concerned with their design and the computational analysis of structural effects and fluid dynamics. One of the most effective vehicles for extraterrestrial research was the method offered to employ unmanned lighter-than-air systems (aerobot) for planetary exploration. The titan aerobot has been built with a co-axial 4-blade propeller to generate thrust in cruise mode, horizontal and vertical fins to maintain static stability, and a reaction wheel to execute yaw maneuvers. The coaxial 4-bladed propeller is the primary thrust generator as required. The proposed co-axial propulsive system was found to be capable of overcoming drag during steady level flight in the titan atmosphere, with the added benefit of the survivability of the propeller for thrust generation despite the unpredictability of the atmosphere. Thus, structural parameter research is conducted as part of the material selection process during manufacture. The materials selected for the proposed structural characteristics investigation span the gamut from common materials through isotropic and orthotropic composites, metal alloys, and various composites. As there are structural loads acting on the airship various structural parameters are chosen to be studied. Two-way coupling fluid structural interaction is the foundation of computational structural analysis. The method transfers the loads from the transient flow analysis to the structure, rather than the steady analysis loads. The range of angular velocities considered here is from 1000 to 10000 revolutions per minute. The best performing materials for each scenario are determined using the foregoing methods, with consideration given to the structural parameters used for computational structural analysis. Based on the combined results for both normal and gust loads, the best performing material is determined.