Transport Efficiency Improving of the Light Unmanned Electric Wing-in-Ground Effect Aircraft by the Wasted Batteries Drop-Off

Aeronautical and Space-Rocket Engineering


Аuthors

Karpikov Y. A.*, Fevralskikh A. V.**, Kraynov A. A.***

Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev, 24, Minin Street, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950, Russia

*e-mail: yourockkarp@mail.ru
**e-mail: a.fevralskih@gmail.com
***e-mail: art.kr-91@mail.ru

Abstract

In recent years, the unmanned wing-in-ground (WIG) effect aircraft design has been considered as a promising area of the aviation technology development. Unlike the well-known light aircraft-type UAVs, the prospects for the unmanned WIG aircraft development are associated with the possibility of achieving higher aerodynamic quality and longer range due to the screen effect positive impact. However, one of the basic issues of the WIG aircraft development is associated with high power ensuring while the takeoff from the water surface, which is being accomplished in the WIG aircraft heavy-layout by the extra blowing engines. The need for lay out with the extra blowing engines is in point of fact an obstacle to the light unmanned WIG aircraft development, since the weight of these engines does not allow practically realizing the positive impact of the screen effect. In recent years, electric motors have been actively applied in the unmanned aerial vehicles layouts, which advantages are being associated with higher specific power per unit mass, relatively low cost and ease of maintenance. Besides, more and more relatively light and energy-intensive lithium rechargeable batteries have recently appeared on the market. The article considers a technique for the light unmanned WIG aircraft transport characteristics improving by equipping it with a battery pack, switched on simultaneously to achieve the increased power at launch, and sequentially consumed while cruising. While the batteries are being consumed, they are dropped-off from the WIG aircraft, which ensures a weight decrease during its movement as well as estimated range increase. To assess the positive effect being described the well-known technique for the electric aircraft design parameters estimation was updated with regard to modeling the discrete mass variation and flight altitude in the area of the screen effect operation. A significant difference from the airplane-type UAV computation consists in this article in accounting for the drag Cx and lifting force Cy coefficients dependence not only on the angle of attack but movement altitude over the underlying surface (screen) as well. The authors employ an algorithm, basing on the information of more than 25 WIG aircraft projects, for the screen UAV geometric parameters determining in a first approximation while recalculating geometry characteristics of the WIG aircraft wing being designed.
Based on the obtained computed dependences, the article demonstrates that application of the expended battery unit elements drop-off principle may significantly increase the range or weight ratio of the WIG aircraft. For an estimated range of 60 km, the WIG aircraft, which discretely drops off weight during its movement, has a 14% lower starting weight. For a range of 80 km, the starting weight reduction is about 33.3%.
The obtained results may be applied for the mass-and-size characteristics preliminary computing of a light unmanned electric WIG aircraft with increased transport efficiency. The said characteristics may be associated with the options of their equipping with batteries and electric mainline motors. The results of mathematical modeling demonstrate the possibility of the of the light unmanned electric WIG aircraft transport efficiency significant improving by increasing the cruising range employing the discrete weight reduction principle. Mathematical model of the electric power plant operation developed in the work is intended for use in a generalized design methodology for electric unmanned WIG aircrafts with a shared AB.

Keywords:

UAV design, electric aircraft, unmanned wing-in-ground effect aircraft, wing-in-ground effect, aircraft of variable mass, electric propulsion system, transport efficiency

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