Solving the Problem of Rational Rudder Design by Structural and Parametric Optimization

Aeronautical and Space-Rocket Engineering


Аuthors

Kupriyanova Y. A.1*, Parafes S. G.2**

1. Dolgoprudny Research and Product Enteprise, DNPP, Sobina Av, 1, Dolgoprudny, 141700, Russia
2. Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), 4, Volokolamskoe shosse, Moscow, А-80, GSP-3, 125993, Russia

*e-mail: janina.kuprianova@yandex.ru
**e-mail: s.parafes@mail.ru

Abstract

The lift surfaces (wings and tail) of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be attributed to one of the most complex units in terms of structural and technological implementation. The task of the tail designing is reduced to the selection of material, structural and force scheme, manufacturing method and the main design parameters determining according to the requirements of strength, rigidity, aeroelasticity, manufacturing technology, etc. 
The presented study assumes that the tail in the form of the full-turn aerodynamic rudders is placed in the tail section of the hypothetical supersonic UAV.
It should be remembered when the design task formulation that the structural and force scheme cannot be considered the final solution. It is possible to obtain a full-fledged structure by accounting for the technological properties of the structural material in the structural and force scheme, manufacturing methods of the load-bearing elements, which form the structure, and their joints. Such model, which combines the structural and force scheme and a technological concept, forms a structural-and-technological solution. 
The purpose of the study consists in solving the complex problem of the structural-and-technological solution designing for the aerodynamic rudder, with account for the requirements of strength, rigidity and aeroelastic stability. The authors suggest to solve the task in several stages, including the rational structural-and-force scheme designing based on the conditions of rigidity and strength, and determining parameters of the anti-flutter balancer to meet the requirements of the aeroelastic stability. 
The load-bearing frame design is being performed employing a special case of structural optimization, i.e. the topological optimization (TO) method with a penalty parameter. To account for placing the anti-flutter balancer in the form of a reinforced tip in the design of the structural and force scheme, this study performs the TO for the two design models, namely with both minimum and maximum sizes of the anti-flutter balancer. The minimum sizes in this case are being selected based on the technological capabilities of manufacturing.
The resulting design optimization has as a rule a number of disadvantages. The most obvious one is its step-type structure stipulated by the presence of a finite element grid. To eliminate the said disadvantages, the authors put forward a post-processing algorithm with linear approximation of the previously obtained functions. The main purpose of the TO result post-processing is representation of a certain function describing the elements position in space by an analytical form. 
Based on the load-bearing frame obtained by the TO results and their post-processing, a structural and technological solution for the aerodynamic rudder has been designed to meet technological constraints. The stress-strain state analysis was conducted for the proposed design, which revealed that the rudder design meets the strength requirements. 
Within the framework of the study, the task of parametric optimization consists in finding such set of parameters of the anti-flutter balancer width, at which the requirement to the the UAV aeroelastic stability under condition of a minimum rudder mass is met. The multi-mode model allows studying the rudder and hull-rudder forms of the flutter of the UAV equipped with projected aerodynamic rudders, and solve the problem of parametric optimization of the rudder design. As the result, optimal parameters of the anti-flutter balancer were found from the condition of minimum mass.
The result of solving the problem of complex design of the rudder structure by the topological and parametric optimization algorithms allowed finding the rational structural and technological solution of the rudder that meets the requirements of strength, rigidity, aeroelastic stability and minimum mass.

Keywords:

all-rotary rudder of the unmanned aerial vehicle, SIMP-method of topological optimization, structural-and-technological solution, compliance function minimization, flutter hull-rudder shape, aeroelasticity, parametric optimization

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