Subject Categories - FTP Directory Listing - Nato

05 AIRCRAFT DESIGN, TESTING AND PERFORMANCE
airspace conditions subject to any limitations and constraints imposed
by the design.
Author
Aircraft Reliability; Pilotless Aircraft; Aircraft Design; Safety Factors;
Airships
20000037895 Georgia Tech Research Inst., Atlanta, GA USA
MICROFLYERS AND AERIAL ROBOTS: MISSIONS AND
DESIGN CRITERIA
Michelson, Robert C., Georgia Tech Research Inst., USA; Development
and Operation of UAVs for Military and Civil Applications; April
2000, pp. 7-1 - 7-13; In English; See also 20000037887; Copyright
Waived; Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy
This paper provides an overview of the issues surrounding the
design and choice of appropriate missions for a new class of
unmanned flying vehicles known as MicroFlyers, Micro Air Vehicles,
and Aerial Robots. These terms are often used interchangeably to
refer to small flying machines varying from what amounts to ‘intelligent
dust’ up to vehicles in the size range of small radio-controlled
models (i.e., having a typical maximum dimension of one meter).
Because of the size of this class of air vehicle, it can engage in
missions that are non-traditional, such as indoor flight through
confined spaces, or en mass, to overwhelm a target in swarms. Also
because of size, many of these vehicles will have to be autonomous.
In some cases, the design of the vehicle will benefit from biological
mimicry wherein the behavioral and locomotive techniques used by
birds and insects will be of advantage. However, the small size of
these air vehicles will also constrain them in the physical environment
in much the same way that insects are not necessarily free to
navigate at will in the presence of wind and precipitation.
Author
Aircraft Design; Design Analysis; Robots; Pilotless Aircraft
20000037897 Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium
VARIOUS SENSORS ABOARD UAVS
Schweicher, E. J., Royal Military Academy, Belgium; Development
and Operation of UAVs for Military and Civil Applications; April 2000,
pp. 10-1 - 10-72; In English; See also 20000037887; Copyright
Waived; Avail: CASI; A04, Hardcopy
In order to deal with all possible UAV imaging sensors, we
better choose the example of a recently introduced UAV: the General
Atomics Predator UAV. The Predator sensor payload includes an q
(Electra-Optical) suite, a Ku-band SAR sensor, Ku-band and UHFband
satellite communications (SATCOM), a C-band light-of-sight
data link, and a GPS/INS navigator. The Predator’s SAR sensor is
the Northrop Grumman (Westinghouse) Tactical Endurance Synthetic
Aperture Radar (TESAR). TESAR provides continuous, near
real time strip-map transmitted imagery over an 800 meter swath at
slant ranges up to 11km. Maximum data rate is 500,000 pixels per
second. The target resolution is 0.3meters. TESAR weight and
power consumption are 80kg and 1200W respectively. A lighter
weight, lower cost SAR is currently in development for Predator. The
Predator’s EO sensor suite is the VERSATRON Skyball SA-144/18
quartet sensor. It consists of a PtSi 512x512 MWIR (Mid Wave IR)
FLIR with six fields of view (to easily perform either detection or
recognition or identification), a color TV camera with a 10X zoom, a
color TV 9OOmm camera and an eyesafe pulsed Er: glass laser
rangefinder (this Er: glass laser could advantageously be replaced
by an eyesafe Er: YAG laser because YAG is a better heat sink than
glass enabling a higher efficiency). The diameter of the EO sensor
turret is relatively small-35cm. The turret has precision pointing with
a line-of-sight stabilization accuracy of 10 microrad. It is anticipated
that high performance UAV’s of the year 2010 will have a broad
range of missions, including surveillance, reconnaissance, communication
, intelligence gathering of threat electronic emissions, target
designation for weapons attacking moving targets, and communication
relay.
Author
Synthetic Aperture Radar; Satellite Communication; Payloads;
Laser Range Finders; Imaging Techniques; Flir Detectors; Communication
Satellites
20000037899 Notre Dame Univ., Dept. of Aerospace and Mechanical
Engineering, IN USA
AERODYNAMIC MEASUREMENTS AT LOW REYNOLDS NUM-
BERS FOR FIXED WING MICRO-AIR VEHICLES
36
Mueller, Thomas J., Notre Dame Univ., USA; Development and
Operation of UAVs for Military and Civil Applications; April 2000, pp.
8-1 - 8-32; In English; See also 20000037887; Copyright Waived;
Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy
A description of the micro-air vehicle (MAV) concept and design
requirements is presented. These vehicles are very small and
therefore operate at chord Reynolds numbers below 200,000 where
very little data is available on the performance of lifting surfaces, i.e.,
airfoils and low aspect-ratio wings. This paper presents the results of
a continuing study of the methods that can be used to obtain reliable
force and moment data on thin wings in wind and water tunnels. To
this end, a new platform force and moment balance, similar to an
already existing balance, was designed and built to perform lift, drag
and moment measurements at low Reynolds numbers. Balance
characteristics and validation data are presented. Results show a
good agreement between published data and data obtained with the
new balance. Results for lift, drag and pitching moment about the
quarter chord with the existing aerodynamic balance on a series of
thin flat plates and cambered plates at low Reynolds numbers are
presented. They show that the cambered plates offer better aerodynamic
characteristics and performance. Moreover, it appears that the
trailing-edge geometry of the wings and the turbulence intensity up to
about 1% in the wind tunnel do not have a strong effect on the lift and
drag for thin wings at low Reynolds numbers. However, the presence
of two endplates for two-dimensional tests and one endplate for the
semi-infinite tests appears to have an undesirable influence on the
lift characteristics at low Reynolds numbers. The drag characteristics
for thin flat-plate wings of aspect ratio greater than one do not appear
to be affected by the endplates. The effect of the endplates on the
drag characteristics of cambered-plate wings is still under investigation.
It is known, however, that endplates do have an effect on the
drag and lift characteristics of a cambered Eppler 61 airfoil/wing.
Author
Fixed Wings; Aerodynamic Characteristics; Low Reynolds Number;
Pilotless Aircraft; Aerodynamic Drag; Drag Measurement
20000047291 Dassault Aviation, Saint-Cloud, France
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR FUTURE BUSINESS JET AIR-
FRAME
Rouquet, A., Dassault Aviation, France; Chaumette, D., Dassault
Aviation, France; New Metallic Materials for the Structure of Aging
Aircraft; April 2000, pp. 3-1 - 3-4; In English; See also 20000047290;
Original contains color illustrations; Copyright Waived; Avail: CASI;
A01, Hardcopy
Today’s aerospace market is extremely tough; the constant
quest for reduced production cost in existing airframes may provide
an opportunity for introducing new technologies through re-engineering
of structural component. This paper highlights the approach used
at Dassault Aviation for the Falcon business jet family. Within the
technologies patchwork, choices and solutions are reviewed and
discussed using examples.
Author
Technology Assessment; Cost Reduction; Aerospace Industry
20000047292 Defence Evaluation Research Agency, Mechanical
Sciences Sector, Farnborough, UK
FUTURE ALUMINIUM TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR APPLICA-
TION TO AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES
Borradaile, J. B., Defence Evaluation Research Agency, UK; New
Metallic Materials for the Structure of Aging Aircraft; April 2000, pp.
4-1 - 4-4; In English; See also 20000047290; Copyright Waived;
Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy
Aluminium remains a predominant material for airframes. Carbon
fibre composites and titanium alloys have made in roads
especially in some military airframes such as Typhoon and Tornado.
However with affordability now having equal emphasis to the classical
performance requirements in aircraft design, such as speed.
range, payload and stealth, aluminium could soon recover some of
these applications. Aerospace manufacturers are giving significant
attention to developments in the areas of new aluminium materials,
low cost manufacturing and unitized structures. The latter is because
the cost of producing aircraft is being driven by the cost of assembly
which drives production towards fewer, cheaper-to-assemble parts,
whilst maintaining close tolerance in manufacture.
Author
Aluminum; Technology Assessment; Aircraft Structures; Airframes;
Carbon Fibers; Fiber Composites; Titanium Alloys