Since the birth of UAVs, weight reduction has become one of the research hotspots that UAV scientists from all over the world pay close attention to. Only by reducing the structural mass of the airframe can more mass space be saved to increase fuel and payload, and extend flight distance and endurance.
With the wide application of carbon fiber composites in large civil airliners, it is also considered to be the best choice to solve the problem of reducing mass in UAVs. Compared with traditional metal materials and composite materials, carbon fiber composite materials have the characteristics of light weight, high strength, anti-fatigue and anti-salt spray corrosion, which can greatly improve and improve the comprehensive performance of UAVs when applied to UAV structures. According to statistics, countries around the world are currently using advanced composite materials based on carbon fiber composite materials on UAVs, accounting for 60% to 80% of the total mass fraction of the structure, reducing the body mass by more than 25%. The application of carbon fiber composite materials plays a crucial role in the lightweight, miniaturization and high performance of UAV structures.
Application advantages:
1. High specific strength and specific stiffness
Compared with other composite materials, on the premise of meeting the same strength and stiffness of the UAV body, the high specific strength and high specific stiffness of carbon fiber composite materials can greatly reduce the lightweight, miniaturization and high performance of the UAV structure. The transformation is of great significance to ensure that the drone has a longer flight range and flight time.
2. It can be integrated as a whole
UAVs often require a flying-wing overall aerodynamic shape with a high degree of wing-body fusion, and a large-area integral molding technology needs to be adopted in the structure. After simulation and simulation calculation, carbon fiber composite materials can not only be integrated into a large area by molding, autoclave external curing molding or RTM resin transfer molding and other processes.
3. Good corrosion resistance and heat resistance
Carbon fiber composite materials also have excellent corrosion resistance and heat resistance, can withstand the corrosion of water and various media in nature and the influence of thermal expansion, and can meet the special requirements of long storage life of drones under various environmental conditions, reducing Life cycle cost of maintenance in use.
4. Implantable chips or alloy conductors
Carbon fiber composite materials can also be implanted with chips or alloy conductors to form an intelligent structural whole that can be used for a long time in harsh environments. And it will not destroy the performance of the implanted device, and can perform special tasks reliably.
Application status:
Due to the many advantages of carbon fiber composite materials in the application of UAVs, in recent years, a large number of advanced UAVs at home and abroad have used carbon fiber composite materials. For example, the “Global Hawk” unmanned reconnaissance aircraft of the United States, the X-45 series of unmanned fighter jets, the “Helios” unmanned aerial vehicle, and China’s “Thunderbird” carbon fiber unmanned aerial vehicle and other unmanned aerial vehicles.