Thesis (Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Underwater glider wings are the lifting surfaces of unmanned underwater vehicles UUVs depending on the chosen aerofoil sections. The efficiency as well as the performance of an underwater glider mostly depends on the hydrodynamic characteristics such as lift, drag, lift to drag ratio, etc of the wings. Among other factors, the geometric properties of the glider wing are also crucial to underwater glider performance. This study presents an opportunity for the numerical investigation to improve the hydrodynamic performance by incorporating curvature at the trailing edge of a wing as oppose to the standard straight or sharp trailing edge. A CAD model with straight leading edge and trailing edge was prepared with NACA 0016 using SolidWorks 2017. The operating conditions were setup such that the inlet speed varies from 0.1 to 0.5 m/s representing a Reynolds number 27.8 x 10ᵌ and 53 x 10ᵌ. The static pressure at different angles of attack (AOA) which varies from 2 to 16degrees at the increment of 2degrees for three turbulent models (K-Ԑ-standard, K-Ԑ-RNG and K-Ԑ-Realizable), was computed for upper and lower surfaces of the modified wing model using ANSYS Fluent 18.1. Thereafter the static pressure distribution, lift coefficient, drag coefficient, lift to drag ratio and pressure coefficient for both upper and lower surfaces were analysed. The findings showed that the lift and drag coefficient are influenced by the AOA and the inlet speed. If these parameters change the performance of the underwater glider changes as depicted by figure 5.6 and figure 5.7. The hydrodynamics of the underwater glider wing is optimized using the Cʟ/Cᴅ ratio as function of the operating conditions (AOA and the inlet speed). The investigation showed that the optimal design point of the AOA of 12 degrees and a corresponding inlet speed of 0.26m/s. The critical AOA matched with the optimal design point AOA of 12 degrees. It was also observed that Cp varies across the wing span. The results showed the Cp is higher closer to the fuselage while decreasing towards the mid-span and at the tip of the wing. This showed that the wing experiences more stress close to the fuselage than the rest of the wing span which implies that a higher structural rigidity is required close to the fuselage. The results of the drag and lift curves correspond to the wing characteristics typical observed for this type of aerofoil.

M.Ing. / The aim of this dissertation is to apply numerical aerodynamic principles to the characterization of an alternative stepped aerofoil concept. The accurate and efficient determination of the aerodynamic forces caused by the relative fluid motion and the consequent lift and drag coefficients are essential for the characterization of new aerofoils. The numerical method used is in the form of a Computational Fluid Dynamics code, which integrates the Navier-Stokes equations through finite-volume dictretization principals. A two-dimensional approximate analysis procedure is used together with a two-equation turbulence approximation in the form of the "standard" k-c turbulence model. Available software is used and adapted where applicable. A suitable method for comparing wing section characteristics as a function of profile geometry and attitude is developed in this thesis. This is achieved by first refining a numerical test case and quantifying the influences of model parameters such as grid design, boundary conditions and solution variables. Alternative geometrical aerofoil concepts can then be characterized by employing the same principles. This thesis contains selected results of hundreds such numerical simulations, all of which were necessary to refine the test case and eventually characterize the aerofoils. The proposed wing section geometry, incorporating a rearward-facing step shows some improvement in aerodynamic performance over a standard reference case. Geometrical variations of the step concept are also investigated and can later be used in an optimization procedure. A transient simulation approach is employed for unsteady cases and flow visualization is done in order to learn more about the unique aerodynamic action of the proposed concept. Experimental results obtained in a wind tunnel for the pressure around the investigated aerofoils are used to verify numerical results. Further development in the numerical approach may include the use of additional, more advanced turbulence models. This may allow the research of more complex phenomena such as stall and also broader ranges of Reynolds numbers in more detail. To complete the characterization process, the moment coefficients should also be included.

Special operations are conducted more than ever in modern warfare. Since the 1980s they have developed and grown in numbers. But with more attempts of operations and bigger numbers, comes failures. One of these failures is operation Red Wings where a unit of US Navy SEALs attempted a recognisance and raid operation in the Hindu Kush. The purpose of this paper was to see how that failure could be analysed from an existing theory of Special operations. This was to ensure that other failures can be avoided but mainly to understand what really happened on that mountain in 2005. The method used was a case study of a single case to give an answer with quality and depth. The study found that Mcravens theory and principles of how to succeed a special operation were not applied during the operation. The case of operation Red Wings showed remarkable valour and motivation, but also lacked severely when it came to simplicity, surprise, and speed.

Of the potential feedstocks for biofuels, microalgae is the most promising, and raceway ponds are the most cost-effective method for growing mircoalgal biomass. Nevertheless, biofuel production from algae must be more efficient to be competitive with traditional fuels. Previous studies using arrays of airfoils, triangles, and squares at high angles of attack show an increase in mixing in raceways and can improve productivity by up to a factor of 2.2. Some researchers say increasing mixing increases growth due to the flashing light effect while others claim it is the decrease in the fluid boundary layer of the cells that increases mass transfer. Whatever the reason, increasing growth by increasing mixing is a repeatable effect that is desirable to both reduce operation costs and increase production. An experimental raceway is constructed to test the effect of a delta wing (DW) on raceway hydraulics in the laboratory using fresh-water. The DW is an isosceles triangle made of plate material that is placed at a high angle of attack in the circulating raceway flow. Results from this investigation can be scaled to larger growth facilities use arrays of DWs. Two vortices are found downstream of the DW when used in this way and create significant vertical fluid circulation. Stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to quantify and optimize the use of delta wings as a means to increase fluid mixing. Stereo PIV gives three components of velocity in a measurement plane at an instant. Three studies are performed to determine the optimal paddle-wheel speed, angle of attack, and DW spacing in the raceway based on mixing. Two new mixing quantities are defined. The first is the Vertical Mixing Index (VMI) that is based on the vertical velocity magnitude, and the second is the Cycle Time required for an algal cell to complete a cycle from the bottom to the top and back again in the raceway. The power required to circulate the flow is considered in all results. The Paddle-wheel Speed Study shows that the VMI is not a function of streamwise velocity, which makes it very useful for comparison. The Cycle Time decreases quickly with streamwise velocity then levels out, revealing a practical speed for operation that is lower than typically used and consumes only half the power. The angle of 40° is optimal from the results of the Angle of Attack Study for both VMI and Cycle Time. The third study is the Vortex Dissipation Study and is used to measure the distance downstream before the vortices dissipate. This information is used to optimize the DW spacing for profit considering the additional costs of adding DWs.

<p>Insects and hummingbirds not only can perform long-term stationary hovering but also are capable of acrobatic maneuvers. At their body scale, such extraordinary flight performance remains unmatched by state-of-the-art conventional man-made aerial vehicles with fixed or rotary wings. Insects' and hummingbirds' near maximal performance come from their highly intricate and powerful wing-thorax actuation systems, sophisticated sensory system, and precise neuromotor control. Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles (FWMAVs) with bio-inspired flapping flight mechanisms hold great promise in matching the performance gap of their natural counterparts. Developing such autonomous flapping-wing vehicles to achieve animal-like flight, however, is challenging. The difficulties are mainly from the high power density requirements under the stringent constraints of scale, weight, and power, severe system oscillations induced by high-frequency wing motion, high nonlinearity of the system, and lack of miniature navigation sensors, which impede actuation system design, onboard sensing, flight control, and autonomous navigation. </p><p><br></p><p>To address these open issues, in this thesis, we first introduce systematic modeling of a dual-motor hummingbird-scale flapping wing robot. Based upon it, we then present studies of the onboard sensor fusion, flight control, and navigation method. </p><p><br></p><p>By taking the key inspiration from its natural counterparts, the proposed hummingbird robot has a pair of independently controlled wings. Each wing is directly actuated by a dc motor. Motors undergo reciprocating motion. Such a design is a severely underactuated system, namely, it relies on only two actuators (one per wing) to control full six degrees of freedom body motion. As a bio-inspired design, it also requires the vehicle close to its natural counterparts’ size and weight meanwhile provide sufficient lift and control effort for autonomy. Due to stringent payload limitation from severe underactuation and power efficiency challenges caused by motor reciprocating motion, the design and integration of such a system is a challenging task. In this thesis, we present the detailed modeling, optimization, and system integration of onboard power, actuation, sensing, and flight control to address these unique challenges. As a result, we successfully prototyped such dual-motor powered hummingbird robot, either with power tethers or fully untethered. The tethered platform is used for designing onboard sensing, control, and navigation algorithms. Untethered design tackles system optimization and integration challenges. Both tethered/untethered versions demonstrate sustained stable flight. </p><p><br></p><p>For onboard attitude sensing, a real-time sensor fusion algorithm is proposed with model-based adaptive compensation for both sensor reading drift and wing motion induced severe system vibration. With accurate and robust sensing results, a nonlinear robust control law is designed to stabilize the system during flight. Stable hovering and waypoint tracking flight were experimentally conducted to demonstrate the control performance. In order to achieve natural flyers' acrobatic maneuverability, we propose a hybrid control scheme by combining a model-based robust controller with a model-free reinforcement learning maneuver policy to perform aggressive maneuvers. The model-based control is responsible for stabilizing the robot in nominal flight scenarios. The reinforcement learning policy pushes the flight envelope to pilot fierce maneuvers. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method, we experimentally show animal-like tight flip maneuver on the proposed hummingbird robot, which is actuated by only two DC motors. These successful results show the promise of such a hybrid control design on severely underactuated systems to achieve high-performance flight.</p><p><br></p><p>In order to navigate confined space while matching the design constraints of such a small robot, we propose to use its wings in dual functions - combining sensing and actuation in one element, which is inspired by animals' multifunctional flapping wings. Based on the interpretation of the motor current feedback which directly indicates wing load changes, the onboard somatosensory-like feedback has been achieved on our hummingbird robot. For navigation purposes, such a method can sense the presence of environmental changes, including grounds, walls, stairs, and obstacles, without the need for any other sensory cues. As long as the robot can fly, it can sense surroundings. To demonstrate this capability, three challenging tasks have been conducted onto the proposed hummingbird robot: terrain following, wall detection and bypass, and navigating a confined corridor. </p><p><br></p><p>Finally, we integrate the proposed methods into the untethered platform, which enables stable untethered flight of such a design in both indoor and outdoor tests. To the best of our knowledge, this result presents the first bio-inspired FWMAV powered by only two actuators and capable of performing sustained stable flight in both indoor and outdoor environment. It is also the first untethered flight of an at-scale tailless hummingbird robot with independently controlled wings, a key inspiration from its natural counterparts.</p><div><div><div><div><div> </div> </div> </div></div></div>

Researchers have been developing techniques to predict inlight icing in order to determine aircraft behavior under different icing conditions. A key component of the techniques is the mesh generation strategy. Automated meshing facilitates numerical simulation of ice accretion on realistic aircraft configurations by deforming the surface and volume meshes in response to the evolving ice shape. The objective of this research is to validate an ice accretion strategy for wings, using a previously developed meshing strategy. The intent is to investigate the effect of varying numerical parameters, on the predicted ice shape. Using this framework, results are simulated for rime and glaze ice accretions on a rectangular planform wing with a constant GLC-305 airfoil section. The number of time steps is shown to have a significant effect on the ice shape, depending on the icing time and conditions. Decreasing the height smoothing parameters generally improves the ice shape accuracy.

Ph. D.

Time-averaged properties of a wing-body-junction flow surrounding a cylindrical wing with a 1.5:1 elliptical nose and a NACA 0020 tail have been compared to those for the above wing with a 1.5 inch radius fillet normal to the wing's surface. An attempt was made to determine the effectiveness of the fillet in improving the uniformity of the wing-body junction flow downstream of the wing, and in attenuating the junction vortex. Measurements included oil-flow visualizations and surface-static-pressure measurements of the flattest floor surrounding the wings, and hot-wire anemometer measurements made in the flow downstream of the wing. Calculations of the drag and the volumetric entrainment of free-stream fluid due to the presence of the baseline wing and wing with fillet were performed. The results of these calculations are important criteria used to determine the effectiveness of the fillet as a flow control device. Results show that the vortex is present in each case, and its size is slightly larger for the wing with fillet as compared to the baseline wing. For each test case, the drag and volumetric entrainment of free-stream fluid were the nearly same for the wing with fillet as compared to the baseline wing. It was also found that increases in the boundary-layer thickness cause only small increases in the size of the junction vortex. The 1.5 inch radius fillet does not appear to be a viable flow control device. / Master of Science

The introduction of composite materials and the ability to tailor these materials to improve aerodynamic and structural performance is having a distinct effect upon aircraft design. In order to optimize the efficiency of the design procedure, a design process which is more integrated than the traditional approach is required. Currently the utilization of such design procedures produces enormous computational costs. An ongoing effort to reduce these costs is the development of efficient methods for cross-disciplinary sensitivities and approximate optimization techniques. The present research concentrates on investigating the integrated design optimization of a subsonic, forward-swept transport wing. A modular sensitivity approach for calculating the cross-sensitivity derivatives is employed. These derivatives are then used to guide the optimization process. The optimization process employed is an approximate technique due to the complexity of the analysis procedures. These optimization results are presented and the impact of the modular technique is discussed. / Master of Science

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