Sensing unsteady pressure on mav wings: A new method for turbulence alleviation

Matthew James Marino, Simon Watkins, Roberto Sabatini, Alessandro Gardi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Experiments at low Reynolds numbers were performed on a pressure tapped NACA 2313 wing in a 3 × 2 × 9 meter wind tunnel under nominally smooth (Ti = 1.2%) and turbulent (Ti = 7.2%) flows at a mean flow velocity of 8ms-1 (Re -120,000). The NACA 2313 wing is a replica of Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) wing of the Flash 3D aircraft used at RMIT University for research purposes. Unsteady surface pressures were measured to understand if the information could be adopted for resolving turbulence-induced perturbations and to furthermore use it in a turbulence mitigation system. Two span-wise locations of chord-wise pressure were acquired when tested under the two different flow conditions. It was discovered that at both span-wise locations, a local Coefficient of Pressure (Cp) held high correlation to the chord-wise Cp integration and allowed for a linear relationship to be formed between the two variables. The defined relationship provided a 95%) confidence for angles of attack below stall and was used to estimate the integrated chord-wise pressure coefficient at a particular span wise location. The relationship between a single pressure tap and the integrated Cp of that chord-wise section was valid for the two different span-wise locations with similar defining equations. As one pressure tap is sufficient to adequately estimate the integrated Cp on a chord-wise wing section, a limited amount of pressure taps across the wings span approximates the pressure distribution across the span and eventually approximates the flight perturbations. Being a novel method of sensing aircraft disturbance, applications are not restricted to MAV. The methodology presented could very well be applied to larger aircraft to reduce the effects of turbulence within the terminal area and can provide other means of active stabilization.

Original languageBritish English
Title of host publicationAEROTECH V
Subtitle of host publicationProgressive Aerospace Research
EditorsFairuz I. Romli, D.L. Majid, Faizal Mustapha, Fairuz I. Romli, D.L. Majid, Faizal Mustapha, Renuganth Varatharajoo, Fairuz I. Romli, Kamarul Arifin Ahmad, D.L. Majid, Faizal Mustapha, Renuganth Varatharajoo, Fairuz I. Romli, Kamarul Arifin Ahmad, D.L. Majid, Faizal Mustapha
Pages48-54
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9783038352327, 9783038352327
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
Event5th AEROTECH conference - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Duration: 29 Oct 201430 Oct 2014

Publication series

NameApplied Mechanics and Materials
Volume629
ISSN (Print)1660-9336
ISSN (Electronic)1662-7482

Conference

Conference5th AEROTECH conference
Country/TerritoryMalaysia
CityKuala Lumpur
Period29/10/1430/10/14

Keywords

  • Micro air vehicle (MAV)
  • Pressure sensing
  • Turbulence
  • Unmanned aerial systems (UAS)
  • Unsteady pressure

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