Ship Air Wake Detection Using A Small Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Open AccessA ship’s air wake is dynamically detected using an airborne inertial measurement unit(IMU) and global positioning system (GPS) attached to a fixed wing unmanned aerial system.A fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) was flown through the air wake created by anunderway 108 ft (32.9m) long research vessel in pre designated flight paths. The instrumentedaircraft was used to validate computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of naval ship airwakes. Computer models of the research ship and the fixed wing UAS were generated andgridded using NASA’s TetrUSS software. Simulations were run using Kestrel, a Department ofDefense CFD software to validate the physical experimental data collection method. Air wakesimulations were run at various relative wind angles and speeds. The fixed wing UAS wassubjected to extensive wind tunnel testing to generate a table of aerodynamic coefficients as afunction of control surface deflections, angle of attack and sideslip. The wind tunnelexperimental data was compared against similarly structured CFD experiments to validate thegrid and model of fixed wing UAS. Finally, a CFD simulation of the fixed wing UAV flyingthrough the generated wake was completed. Forces on the instrumented aircraft were calculatedfrom the data collected by the IMU. Comparison of experimental and simulation data showedthat the fixed wing UAS could detect interactions with the ship air wake.
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