Abstract
Unmanned rotorcraft represents a new paradigm in agricultural activities. Rotor-blade design to improve lift performance was necessitated because payload-mounted flights suffer from a lack of lift. A prototype of rotor blade, comprising the V2008B airfoil, was assessed on an agricultural rotorcraft. The lift corresponding to the collective pitch angle (CPA) and rotor speed was measured on field and compared with a base-line blade. Measurements demonstrated that the prototype blade could sustain a maximum payload of 589 N, resulting in a total lift of 1256 N. Thus, an increase of 10.5 % in total lift was accomplished, compared with a base-line of 1137 N. Simulation also indicated that total lift equals 1269 N at CPA = 10°, approximately 1.0 % greater than the experimental lift. However, a practical spray payload would be reduced due to the ground effect and uncertainty, existing during an anchored field experiment. The ground effect from the experimental operation close to the ground would reduce 10 % of the total lift, resulting in 1138 N for hovering. Furthermore, uncertainty existed in stick control inputs and local wind conditions, resulting in fluctuations of rotor speed and payload. The standard deviation of net lift was ±45.33 N; therefore, the minimum net lift of the low envelope assessed from the uncertainty analysis would be 426 N.
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Young Mo Koo received his M.Sc. in Bio & Agricultural Engineering from Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, USA. He then received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University, USA. Dr. Koo is currently a Professor at the Department of Bio-industrial Machinery Engineering at Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea. His research interests are computational fluid dynamics and unmanned aerial application technology using agricultural helicopters.
Jong Geun Hong received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Bio-industrial Machinery Engineering from Kyungpook National University Daegu, South Korea in 2016 and 2018, respectively. His research interests include rotor computational fluid dynamics and aerial application of agriculture helicopter.
Basharat Ali Haider received his M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Belgrade, Serbia in 2009. Recently, he has received Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea in August 2018. His research interests include computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamic design and optimization, immersed boundary and lattice Boltzmann methods, and fluid-structure interaction.
Chang Hyun Sohn received his M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from KAIST in 1985. He then received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from KAIST in 1991. He worked in ADD for 3 years. He also worked in University of Cambridge as a visiting Assistant Professor in 1996. Dr. Sohn is currently a Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea. His research interests are computational fluid dynamics, particle image velocimetry, flow induced vibration and thermal hydraulics.
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Koo, Y.M., Hong, J.G., Haider, B.A. et al. Practical payload assessment of a prototype blade for agricultural unmanned rotorcraft. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 5659–5669 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-1113-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-1113-9