Aerodynamic analysis of the hybrid wing model for an agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract In modern agriculture, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) play a pivotal role in two key operational scenarios: plant protection and land mapping. In the plant protection scenario, UAVs require excellent hovering capabilities, whereas in the land mapping scenario, they need to maintain a certain level of cruising ability. To meet these diverse performance requirements, a hybrid wing design combining tilt-wing and propeller is used in the agricultural UAV. After the design of the propeller and wing was completed, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was employed to conduct aerodynamic analysis of the hybrid-wing composite model, laying the theoretical foundation for the practical application of the hybrid-wing UAV in agriculture. The findings reveal that when the UAV's pitch angle exceeds 20 degrees, an increase in propeller speed significantly alters the flow field structure around the wing, resulting in a reduction in the lift-to-drag ratio. To ensure superior aerodynamic efficiency of the wing, the propeller speed should be maintained below 1500 rpm.