Influence of Airfoil Geometry on VTOL UAV Aerodynamics at Low Reynolds Numbers

Abstract

This study examines the impact of airfoil geometry on the aerodynamic properties of a low Reynolds number flying wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The investigation was conducted at three Reynolds numbers (1×10⁶, 2×10⁶, and 5×10⁶), all under a constant Mach number of 0.3 during subsonic flight. Four distinct airfoils from the NACA and Selig series were analyzed using XFLR5 v6.61, with the angle of attack varying from -5° to 15°. Among the airfoils, NACA 6409 consistently demonstrated superior aerodynamic performance across all Reynolds numbers. Notably, at a Reynolds number of 1×10⁶, NACA 6409 achieved a peak lift coefficient (Cl) of 1.584 at an angle of attack of 11.1°, indicating high efficiency. Additionally, the study explored the angles of attack where the drag coefficient (Cd) increased sharply, as well as the lift-to-drag ratios (Cl/Cd), providing a comprehensive understanding of stalling behavior and the balance between lift and drag. These findings offer valuable insights into the aerodynamic efficiency of airfoils in the context of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAV design, underscoring the importance of further research to optimize airfoil designs for enhanced VTOL UAV performance.

Received: 24 May 2024 | Revised: 20 September 2024 | Accepted: 28 October 2024

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Timothy A. Adeyi: Conceptualization, Software, Resources, Writing - original draft; Oluwaseyi O. Alabi: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - review & editing; Olumide A. Towoju: Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.