Conceptual Design and Numerical analysis of an Unmanned Amphibious Vehicle
Vijayakumar Mathaiyan, R. Vijayanandh, R. Vijayanandh, Ramesh Murugesan, Senthil Kumar Madasamy, Raj Kumar Gnanasekaran, Sivaranjani Sivalingam, Dong Won Jung
Abstract
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-1285.vid Flying fish has the capability of gliding in the air for more than 200 m. The biological design of the Flying fish is quite impressive which allows the fish to swim and fly efficiently. An attempt is made to use this bioinspired design of this fish to conceptually design an Unmanned Amphibious Vehicle (UAV). Keeping the payload for surveillance as a key parameter, the UAV with retractable wings is designed to have the capability to swim and fly. Reduction of surface area in the UAV`s transition in the media from water to air is desirable, hence the retractable wing design is chosen. The preliminary design of the UAV is analyzed for a different flight and swimming conditions. SST k-omega model captures the physics much better than any other turbulence model for the real-time conditions. The effect of the fluid on the surface is imposed on the UAV using Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI). FSI analyses are computed for the range of desirable flight and or swimming conditions. From the detailed analyses, the selection of appropriate lightweight materials for the design is made. Propeller is placed at the tail of the UAV to avoid any disturbance in surveillance and allow the wings to retract without any issues.