Session: 02-06: Applications of Advanced Materials in Aerospace Applications

Paper Number: 110391

110391 - Flight Performance Evaluation of a Mini Drone by Revisiting Structural Design via Additive Manufacturing Technology 

Flight performance of unmanned aerial vehicles includes a range of topics defined within the context of steady and accelerated flight. For both of those flight conditions, the performance affected by battery characteristics such as configuration, charge status, and temperature for those mini drone systems as well. On this basis, attitude stability, hovering accuracy as well as track precision fall into the interest of flight performance of such battery-powered mini aerial vehicles. Once the flight critical components are considered, it is expected that the autopilot consumes as little energy as possible in order to contribute to flight performance positively. Due to the propeller rotation process, airflow around the propeller changes, hence the force changes depending on the volume of air accordingly. Moreover, propeller imbalances directly produce mechanical vibration which may further cause performance decline. In this work, the structural design of a mini drone is used for surveillance purposes revisited by considering additive manufacturing technology. The drone frame, which is used to hold the autopilot, is additively manufactured with the design of experiment (DoE) methodology. The DoE inputs and outputs include the properties of various high-loss factor materials, design for additive manufacturing (DfAM), and vibration-isolation efficiency quantified by referring mechanical vibration analyses. Structural analysis of the drone frame is performed by using finite element analysis (FEA). These analyses are oriented towards the suppression of stress concentrations, especially around critical regions of load-carrying parts. After the designing processes and FEA, redesigned drone frame is tested with real-time flights. Hence, the flight tests reveal the effect of the redesigned frame on the improvement of flight duration, battery life as well as CPU load. 

Presenting Author: Hande GIRARD Ostim Technical University

Presenting Author Biography: Associate Prof. Dr. Hande (Yavuz) GIRARD received her Ph.D. with High Honors from Ecole Centrale Paris in 2012. She served as a researcher/coordinator in numerous national and international aerospace and defense projects since 2007. One of those projects realized in the frame of an ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) PROCOM Project under the coordination of EADS IW (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. Innovation Works, currently Airbus Group). Within the collaboration of several industrial partners and research institutions such as Ecole Normale Superieure Cachan PPSM CNRS UMR 8531, Supelec LGEP CNRS UMR 8507, and ICM Paris-Est MCMC CNRS UMR 7182, continuous hybrid reinforcements for aerospace applications were successfully developed. She published more than 30 scientific papers in several journals and conferences notably in aerospace, mechanics, and materials fields. She held certificates in Project Management for Aerospace Professionals and Aerospace Applications of Systems Engineering both from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Kansas (USA) in 2013 and Data Science from Booz Allen in 2015. She serves as a referee in various scientific journals including Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology.
Her research interests cover structural materials, mechanics of multi-functional composite structures, process design, mathematical modeling, and characterization of materials. Currently, she works as an associate professor of aerospace engineering in OSTİM Technical University. She is a member of European Structural Integrity Society, GDR “Graphene and Nanotubes” GNT, Groupement des Centraliens de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, Groupement des Centraliens de l'Automobile, Association de l'Ecole Centrale Paris, Centrale au Féminin.