Development of a Parametric Structural Analysis Environment to Support the Design, Manufacturing, and Production of a Composite UAV Wing

Author(s)
dos Santos, Marcos
Cox, Adam
Fischer, Olivia J. Pinion
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Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
The Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics was established in 1931, with a name change in 1962 to the School of Aerospace Engineering
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Abstract
As digital and physical systems become more complex, collect voluminous quantities of data, and move towards greater integration over time, the concept of digital engineering has become of great interest in the engineering world. The integration of digital methods with traditional engineering approaches in product lifecycle management has posed challenges on how techniques such as digital twins can be best used during the design and manufacturing phases of the product lifecycle. To address this need, this research supports the integration of design, manufacturing, and production by assessing the structural integrity of various designs of a parametric UAV wing built with a composite material. A systematic and efficient environment is developed to modify the wing design parameters, develop and analyze the finite element model, obtain structural data, and identify feasible design regions for decision making. The sharing of models, data, and analyses with the manufacturing and production segments of the lifecycle permits integration of the various disciplines in early design phases to allow greater design freedom and avoid great costs during the design of the product. The results indicate that (1) the need for a trade-off analysis between key disciplinary considerations in UAV wing design decision making can be addressed and that (2) the developed capability enables decision makers to choose the configurations to be studied in later design stages after the structural integrity and weight considerations are assessed for multiple wing designs.
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Date
2023-01
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Text
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Paper
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