ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF ADDITIONAL TWIST ANGLE ON ENDURANCE AND RANGE OF MALE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT USING ANSYS SIMULATION

ANSYS Simulation; Endurance; MALE Unmanned Aircraft; Range; Twist Angle.

Abstrak

This study aims to analyze the effect of twist angle variations on the endurance and range of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The research method uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation with ANSYS Fluent 17.2 at a taper ratio configuration of 0.2. Validation is carried out by comparing the results of the NACA 0012 airfoil simulation to experimental data (CL difference <2%). Mesh independence tests prove solution convergence, with a CL difference <1% between the medium and fine meshes. Four twist angle variations were tested (0°, -3°, -5°, and -8°) at an angle of attack range of 0°–12°. The results show that the -5° twist configuration provides optimum performance with a constant altitude endurance of 42.51 hours (77.8% increase), a constant speed endurance of 39.52 hours (66.3% increase), and a range of 9,274.50 km (68.1% increase). Pressure distribution and spanwise circulation confirmed that a washout of -5° approximates an ideal elliptical distribution, significantly reducing induced drag. The study concluded that a twist angle of -5° is the optimum configuration for improving cruise performance of MALE aircraft. Keywords: ANSYS Simulation; Endurance; MALE Unmanned Aircraft; Range; Twist Angle.