Misunderstanding 1: The application of carbon fiber composites is mainly for "weight reduction"
Weight reduction has always been the focus of UAVs, because UAVs are small in size, light in weight, easy to transport, can take off and land vertically, and have flexible, adaptable and high efficiency flight control. Because UAVs are small in size, light in weight, easy to transport, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, flexible in flight control, adaptable, and highly efficient, the impact of weight reduction on all aspects of performance is particularly obvious for such micro-small machines. Weight reduction not only reduces resistance and increases agility during flight, but also effectively extends endurance and improves work efficiency. However, "weight reduction" is by no means the only purpose of the application of carbon fiber composites in UAVs.
In addition to light weight, carbon fiber composites also have many performance advantages, such as high strength, resistance to change, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, vibration resistance and so on. For example, when providing customized services of carbon fiber UAV wing for a UAV, according to the requirements of the applicant, the wing must simultaneously meet the requirements of large aspect ratio, low structural weight, full lightweight structure and ultra-high strength. The ultra-high structural stiffness and deformation resistance of high-modulus carbon fiber composites are fully reflected in this wing. The carbon fiber landing gear made for another medium-sized UAV is not only lightweight, but its mechanical properties are also far better than general metal materials, which plays a good buffering role when the UAV takes off or lands, and improves the stability and safety of the airframe.
Myth 2: The application effect of carbon fiber composites will be very good
Although there are many advantages, carbon fiber composites are by no means "all-purpose oil", and its actual application effect is related to many factors. Whether carbon fiber composites can play a due value in the UAV, Wuxi Zhishang New Material believes that it is necessary to see whether the designer's design is reasonable, and the second is to see whether the carbon fiber UAV parts production process is optimized. It suggests that under the premise of ensuring reliable performance and dimensional stability of UAV parts, the overall curing molding process should be chosen as much as possible, and the molding tooling should be simplified as much as possible. Take one of its carbon fiber UAV shell as an example, because of the overall curing process not only significantly reduces the weight of the body, to avoid the long flight caused by the standard parts of the loose and other issues, but also improve the strength of the UAV and the level of the paddle.
Myth 3: The more carbon fiber material you use, the better
With the performance advantages of carbon fiber deeply rooted in people's hearts, many UAV designers try to use it in different parts, eager to use it to replace all metal materials. Carbon fiber is a great material, but it's not a good idea to use as much of it as possible in the actual application of drones.
Whether it is a military drone or an industrial drone, or an ordinary consumer drone, the ultimate value of the drone is reflected in the unmanned technology to help people go to some manpower can not be reached or extremely dangerous environment to carry out artificial alternative work, in the process, the wear and tear of the drone is unavoidable. If the cost is too high, it will definitely affect its competitiveness in the market. Reasonable use of carbon fiber materials, will be applied to the key components, in order to fully reflect its application value.
For example, some people try to use carbon fiber composite materials for UAV fuel tanks, plant protection UAV medicine box, through the lighter box to solve the existing fuel tanks of thick, heavy, poor environmental adaptation parts and other application limitations, to enhance the on-board capacity of the UAV. However, at the same time, it also greatly increases the cost and price of the UAV, which largely limits the increase in the number of users. On the contrary, if carbon fiber composites are applied to parts such as motor mounts, they can not only reduce weight but also dampen vibration, thus providing more stable flight quality for UAVs. Therefore, the ultimate goal of applying carbon fiber composites in UAVs should be to bring more optimization and enhancement to the performance of UAVs through not much cost investment.
Source: New Materials Journal