The 2012-2013 Advanced Modeling Aeronautics Team’s

Humanitarian Aid Delivery Aircraft Captains: Ilya Anishchenko, Alex Beckerman, Logan Halstrom

Faculty Advisors: Jean-Jacques Chattot and Stephen K. Robinson

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

INTRODUCTIONAMAT 2012-2013 is multi-disciplinary group of 23 engineering undergraduates drawing from majors of Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Computer Science, and Chemical Engineering. The team participates annually in the Advanced Class challenge of the Aero Design competition put on by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), for which the members must design and manufacture a model aircraft to meet specific requirements in payload, weight, and flight precision. AMAT performed extremely well in this year’s competition, and the team plans to use this experience to bring further improvement in the coming academic year.

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PROPULSION

COMPETITION RESULTS

STABILITY

STRUCTURE

AERODYNAMICS

The team selected the OS 46 AXII MAX nitromethane 2-stroke engine as its powerplant. Its displacement is the maximum allowed, and it is mounted in a tractor configuration. Static thrust tests and dynamic thrust simulations indicated optimum performance with a 12x4 propeller.

The international Aero Design West competition took place from April 12th to 14th in Van Nuys, CA this year and had 75 total competitors for all three classes (Micro, Regular, and Advanced), 9 of which were Advanced.

AMAT designed its aircraft’s structure as a hybrid of ideas from traditional model aircraft design and composite material construction. The main spar is a composite of balsa and carbon fiber, and it absorbs wing bending stress while positioning precise, laser-cut balsa ribs. Ultracote skin and a balsa wing box provide torsional resistance. Ailerons, winglets, and wing trailing edges are constructed from carbon fiber composites due to the high strength and precision demands of these components. The fuselage is an exceptionally light box structure made of a balsa and carbon fiber composite, weighing a total of only ½ lb. All layups are arranged to have alternating fiber directions so that they are strong in both bending and shear.

Longitudinal stability of the aircraft was accounted for in the sizing equilibrium analysis. A static margin of 8% (non-dimentionalized by the fuselage length) was selected to provide sufficient stability and maneuverability. The team also analyzed lateral stability and sized the ailerons accordingly for roll control.

This project is the product of the diligent work of all of our team members, and would not have been possible without their dedication.

PERFORMANCEAMAT determined aircraft performance characteristics by using engine test data in an aircraft equilibrium analysis. For each iteration of the configuration, takeoff capability was evaluated using a simulation of the takeoff acceleration phase to ensure that the aircraft was capable of reaching the necessary velocity.

AMAT chose to use the Selig 1223 airfoil for the main wing because of its high maximum lift coefficient. A rectangular planform was chosen for ease of construction, and winglets were designed to improve efficiency at takeoff by 10% by redistributing the wing’s circulation so as to make the downwash profile constant as with the ideal elliptic distribution. The entire configuration is sized so as to have a lifting tail at takeoff, obtaining the maximum amount of lift from a given configuration’s structural weight. The empennage is elevated by an angled tailboom so that the tail is removed from the main wing’s wake, making it more efficient.

This year’s Advanced Class mission was to design and construct an aircraft for the purpose of aerial delivery of humanitarian aid. For the competition, an aid package was represented by a 3 lbf sandbag, because of its similarity in size, weight, and physical properties to a package of food or supplies. The aircraft was also required to lift a 15 lbf static weight representative of fuel reserve, since on actual humanitarian missions, the aircraft would be required to travel long distances to reach those in need. Aircraft design was also dictated by other factors including an empty weight restriction of 8 lbf and a Data Acquisition System (DAS) capability requirement of real-time altitude measurements and First Person View (FPV) telemetry transmission. Scoring was based upon a written design report, an oral presentation of the design, and a flight score based on the accuracy of payload delivery.

Category Standing Design Report 1st

Oral Presentation 2nd Overall in Advanced Class 2nd

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500

1

2

3

4

5

6

7Chord of Aileron Required for Various Perpendicular Gust Velocities

Velocity of Perpendicular Gust, ft/s

Aile

ron

Cho

rd,

in

Elevated lifting tail configuration

Wing bending failure test Optimum layup configuration determined through testing

Additionally, we would like to thank Professor Chattot for his valuable guidance and advice throughout this and the many past years of AMAT. We are also excited to have the assistance of Professor Robison as the 2013-2014 AMAT advisor. Finally, we would like to acknowledge our technical advisors Michael Akahori, Shawn Malone, and Dave Kehlet in the Engineering Fabrication Laboratory for the extensive technical knowledge and experience they provide.

Michael Wachenschwanz (DAS Lead)

Gene Ang Robert Edwards Sara Langberg Jason Petersen

Joshua Barram Hashmatullah Hasseeb Kelley Lundquist Patricia Revolinsky

Max Bern S. Sheida Hosseini Arlene Macias Adam Simko

James Dionisopoulos Steven Hung Robyn Murray Stefan Turkowski

Louis Edelman Chris Lorenzen Nohtal Partansky

Custom designed and built front landing gear shock absorber

AVIONICSThe AMAT aircraft is outfitted with an extensive avionics system to aid its pilots in accomplishing its primary task of precision aerial targeting and delivery. An Ardupilot 2.5 manages telemetry data measured by an array of devices including a 6-axis inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an offboard GPS, and an onboard camera.Payload trajectory prediction

AMAT’s Performance: