L. Wurst, J. Wallisch, R. Hann

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are increasingly used in diverse commercial and military applications. Ensuring their reliability is crucial to prevent endangering mission targets, people, and infrastructure. All-weather capability is essential for UAVs to operate effectively in various conditions. One major risk is atmospheric icing, which can occur when flying through clouds, affecting aerodynamics and performance. While manned aviation has well-established ice protection systems, applying this knowledge to small fixed-wing UAVs remains challenging, leading to significant knowledge gaps. The air intake of UAV engines is a particularly critical and underexplored area, where icing can reduce engine performance, affecting the UAVs endurance and mission success. This study employs numerical simulations using ANSYS FENSAP-ICE to investigate the icing process at the engine air intake of two different UAV models. The results show that icing significantly impacts air mass flow, necessitating a 4.4 % increase in inlet velocity to maintain adequate flow. Furthermore, three-dimensional geometry simulations are essential for accurately considering icing at the engine air intake, as the simulations reveal significant variations in ice accumulation and formation between three-dimensional and two-dimensional simulations. The results can give the UAV operator and the manufacturer an indication of the severity of the ice accretion. From this, countermeasures such as the implementation of an IPS can be derived, or possible optimizations in the designs can be identified.

Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2023, Stuttgart

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn, 2023

Conference Paper

englisch

21,0 x 29,7 cm, 10 Seiten

urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023102712483078296365

10.25967/610455

unmanned aerial vehicle, atmospheric icing, engine air intake, numerical simulations

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Wurst, L.; Wallisch, J.; Hann, R. (2023): CFD Icing Simulations on a Fixed-Wing UAV Engine Inlet. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.. (Text). https://doi.org/10.25967/610455. urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023102712483078296365.

27.10.2023