Mission Analysis of Solar UAV for High-Altitude Long-Endurance Flight
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 31, Issue 3
Abstract
This study presents the analysis of a hybrid solar high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (HALE UAV) designed to perform meteorological observation and surveillance-related missions. For this purpose, the methodology minimizes the energy consumption of the aerial platform considering the energy balance for a climb, cruise, and descent cycle. The flight methods take into account the seasonal and diurnal variation of solar radiation in the middle latitudes. In addition, to reduce the weight of the onboard battery and regenerative fuel cell (RFC), this study analyzes the daily mission profile that consists of a climb, high-altitude cruise, descent, low-altitude cruise, and reclimb. During the daytime cruise at 18 km, extra energy is stored in the RFC. In the nighttime, the aircraft descends to 14 km using energy stored in the RFC. On the following day, the aircraft climbs again to 18 km and cruises during the daytime. The energy consumption of this one-day mission profile is compared to that of a continuous-cruise flight at 18-km altitude for a day. The effects of takeoff time on the total time and energy consumption to reach the mission altitude are investigated, and the drift due to the westerlies are calculated. The analysis of the configuration parameters and aerodynamic coefficients was conducted using software tools.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Research Grant from Sejong University through the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Korean government (Project No. 16CTAP-C114866-01).
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 31 • Issue 3 • May 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 22, 2017
Accepted: Sep 28, 2017
Published online: Jan 27, 2018
Published in print: May 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Jun 27, 2018
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