UAV CONCEPTUAL and PRELIMINARY DESIGN

UAV CONCEPTUAL and PRELIMINARY DESIGN

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN:

The conceptual design process is shown in the following. It is a low fidelity study.  It starts with the overall requirements and specifications derived from the analysis of the mission requirements imposed on the required mini UAS.

   The conceptual design process focuses on the requirements strategy, the preferred concept and the estimation of system costs.  In  case  of  mini  UAS,  the  conceptual design  process  includes  both  the  conceptual  and preliminary  design  phases  usually known  for  normal  airplanes.  Therefore, the conceptual design phase includes the following:

   1. Preliminary sizing of the air vehicle.

  2. Air Vehicle systems analysis and selection.

3. Air Vehicle payloads analysis and selection.

4. Air Vehicle configuration design.

  5.Air Vehicle preliminary analysis.

 
Conceptual design 

  

The preliminary sizing is the process which results in the numerical definition of the following parameters:

1. Ground launch weight, W_GL

2. Empty weight, W_E

3. Mission fuel weight, W_F

4. Maximum required power, P_Max,Req

5. Wing area, S

6. Wing aspect ratio, A

7. Maximum required lift coefficient, CL_max

It is divided into three different stages, as shown in the last Figure

1. Weight sizing.

2. Weight sensitivity analysis.

   3. Performance sizing.

in the next post we will discuss the weight sizing