Preliminary study of an airplane for electric propulsion testing at high altitudes

• Autorzy: Galinski C.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.5604/01.3001.0012.4328

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Technology of photovoltaic cells and lithium batteries is being developed rapidly. As a result, attempts to build solar High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) airplanes are more and more frequent. In the future, such airplanes may appear very useful for the economy because they may replace geostationary satellites in several applications. Unfortunately, data on altitude effect on photovoltaic cells and batteries performance are not easily available. Moreover, acquisition cost of cells is very high. Therefore, a tool for inexpensive testing of cells is needed. This article shows a study of very light unmanned airplane that could be used as a testbed for this purpose. Weight assumptions are presented together with concept of geometry and aerodynamic characteristics. Propulsion system is proposed, so also airplane performance is estimated. Finally, results are discussed leading to the conclusion. It appears that unmanned airplane with maximum take-off weight of 1.3 kg can climb to the altitude of 10 km within 4 hours during sunny summer day about the noon. However, only 30% of such days can be used because of strong winds blowing at high altitudes, quite small optimal airspeed of the airplane and constraints due to Air Traffic Management. Moreover, application of variable pitch propeller is recommended as well as some kind of take-off assist. For example, towing or take-off from the hill is desirable to avoid threats resulting from small climb rate.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

electric propulsion; flight testing; unmanned aerial vehicle

• Wydawca: Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of Aviation ; European Science Society of Powertrain and Transport KONES Poland ; Wydawnictwo Instytutu Technicznego Wojsk Lotniczych
• Czasopismo: Journal of KONES
• Rocznik: 2018
• Tom: Vol. 25, No. 3
• Strony: 167--174
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 15 poz., rys.

Twórcy

autor

Galinski C.

• Warsaw University of Technology The Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics Nowowiejska Street 24, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland tel.: [phone], fax: [phone]

Bibliografia

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• [11] HY25-152C 4D motor with variable pitch propeller, data sheet seen in the internet on 24.07.2018.
• [12] Sunpower C60 Solar Cell data sheet, seen in the internet on 24.07.2018.
• [13] AXI 2204/54 Goldline V2 motor, data sheet seen in the internet on 24.07.2018.
• [14] Lyon, C. A., Broeren, A. P., Giguere, P., Gopalarathnam, A., Selig, M. S., Summary of low speed airfoil data. Vol. 3, SoarTech Publications, Virginia Beach, USA 1997.
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Uwagi

Opracowanie rekordu w ramach umowy 509/P-DUN/2018 ze środków MNiSW przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (2018).