Flight Endurance Increasing Technology of New Energy UAV Based on a Strut-Braced Wing

Abstract

This paper explores the feasibility of using the strut-braced wing (SBW) configuration to improve the flight endurance of the new energy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A conceptual scheme of a new energy UAV with SBW configuration was designed, and the influence of the SBW on the aerodynamic and structural performance was analyzed. The results show that the SBW can improve the structural performance of the wing and increase the solar laying area of the wing, but the aerodynamic performance did not improve significantly. From the perspective of UAV energy consumption in level flight, the subtraction between electric output power and solar input power is selected as the evaluation index of the increasing effect of the flight endurance. A multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) model was established considering the coupling of aerodynamics, structure, energy, and weight. Surrogate model technology and multiobjective genetic algorithm are used to optimize the SBW configuration. Compared with the conventional configuration, the optimal design result of the SBW configuration can reduce the level-flight output power and increase the solar input power, thus effectively increasing the flight endurance of the UAV.