Safety Research on Release of Airborne Buoy Based on a Medium Altitude and Long-endurance (MALE) UAV

Abstract

It is of great significance to study the aerodynamic interference characteristics and the motion law of the airborne buoy during the launching process for the design of the safe launching scheme of the airborne buoy. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are used to simulate the release process of airborne buoy in reconnaissance and strike integrated unmanned aerial vehicle (R/S UAV). A dynamic chimera grid approach is used and coupled with 6-DOF movement equations to solve the unsteady N-S (Navier-Stokes) equations. The time-dependent interference between the stationary and moving boundaries is captured. All major parameters, such as displacement, angular orientations and force, and their change trends are obtained. The results show that free separation of buoy cover will have a significant impact on the safety of UAV during the release process of airborne buoy. Considering the state of the buoy cover attached to the buoy parachute, the closest range of buoy from the propeller is 0.151 m when the initial speed is 0 m/s, the safety margin is not enough; however, the closest range of buoy from the propeller is 0.671 m when the initial speed is 1.8 m/s, the safety margin is enough.

Keywords

• unmanned aerial vehicle
• computational fluid dynamics
• unsteady flow
• dynamic chimera grid
• external store release
• aerodynamic interference