Advanced Development for Defense Science and Technology

There is growing interest in using unmanned air vehicles (UAV's) instrumented with particle sensors to detect the presence of hazardous airborne chemical/biological (CB) agents. The effectiveness of this point source approach depends on providing the airborne sensors with the largest possible and most varied volume of the atmosphere. We seek to investigate whether or not the local flow upstream of a sensor intake manifold on an UAV can be manipulated to increase the effective sampling volume. The project reflects the common occurrence of substantial turbulent and vortical fields associated with UAV's that may potentially be used to effectively redirect airborne particulates toward sensor intake locations. A revolutionary, gridfree computational approach pioneered by VorCat, Inc. will be used to effect an accurate numerical simulation of the unsteady, turbulent field associated with a UAV traversing a particle-laden atmosphere. A number of possible options for augmenting the range of particles brought to a sensor during UAV flight will be considered. If a means of enhancing sampling volume can be found in the Phase I project, then, in partnership with Boeing, Inc., the Phase II study will consider the optimization and implementation of the approach on a particular UAV.