Simulation of advanced aircraft and evaluation of its flight dynamic characteristics

• Main Author: Yu, Lu.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/40284
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Simulation of flight dynamics is a very important and crucial component of any large aircraft program. Simulation is meant to replicate the real-life environment and the behaviour of an aircraft in flight. Comparing with experiment-based simulation of the aircrafts, computing programming based simulation is more efficient and cost-saving, especially with the rapid development of computing technology. In this project, a simulated model of a UAV is built in a PC-based environment. Several softwares are involved to perform the simulation task in this project. A short discussion of the softwares to be used is presented in Chapter 2. The different role performed by each type of software is illustrated. The UAV Predator B is selected as the model to be simulated. The model selection and analysis is to be covered in Chapter 3. Most of the information of the geometry properties and aerodynamic characteristics of Predator B is collected from literature and online resources. Since information about this UAV is confidential, large amount of details about the model has to been calculated by using the aircraft design and analysis software AAA®. A list of the geometry properties and a 3D layout of the aircraft is generated by the author. In the following chapter, the two main sub-models, aerodynamic model and engine model are created in table-format. The aerodynamic model is based on the small-perturbation theory and in the form of non-dimensional aerodynamic coefficients. The engine model is an estimation from the engine thrust table provided by the engine manufacturer with reasonable assumptions made on the engine efficiency. The most critical part of this project is the process of the implementation of the programming model in the computing based simulation environment. Different approaches were taken to make the process successful. The procedure of implementing the model in the simulation solver ¬D-Six® is discussed in Chapter 5. However flight testing has not yet been successfully conducted before the modification was introduced. Followed by the model implementation, a discussion on the modification made to the model is presented in Chapter 6. Modification on the aerodynamic database, landing gear model codes and the flap control system is presented. After the modification has been done, flight teatings were conducted and several flight performance parameters were recorded and analyzed. The final results indicates a relatively accurate simulation of the UAV model, however future work is needed to achieve a more detailed aircraft model with a higher flight handling quality.