Physics-Based Unified UAV Design and Analysis Tool

Interest in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) has exploded in recent years. Most development efforts aimed at small UAS have addressed conventional performance objectives and the important acoustic aspect has often not been seriously considered. The acoustic signature of UAS is, however, a vital aspect that must be dealt with due to its significant impact on operations. Currently, there is a lack of modeling capability to analyze the combined aerodynamic and acoustic physics to achieve both good performance and low noise. Especially, the broadband noise that is dominant to small UAVs has not been well addressed within the comprehensive analysis framework. This SBIR aims at developing a unified tool that supports UAS design to optimize the combined performance and noise targets. The unified tool will be physics based, modular, and scalable to all UAS Groups. It covers the full design cycle including vehicle modeling property data generation, comprehensive analysis (e.g., performance, dynamics, controls, stability, loads, and noise), and design optimization. The unified tool will offer state-of-the-art modeling and analysis options for UAS design. Phase I has demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed approach and Phase II will carry out the full development to achieve a modeling tool that will unify combined comprehensive modeling with an acoustic analysis capability in support of UAV design, development and operation.