Aerodynamic analysis of unmanned aerial vehicle with hawk shape for monitoring oil leakage.

The oil pipeline network requires periodic monitoring to detect pipeline damages, which may cause oil leakage with severe environmental contamination. These damages can be generated by interference from third parties such as construction works, sabotage, vandalism, excavations, and illegal oil theft. To detect the oil pipeline damages, it can be used aerodynamic aerial vehicles (UAVs) with infrared cameras and image processing systems. This paper presents the aerodynamic analysis of a UAV with a hawk shape (wingspan of 2.20 m and length of 1.49 m) for potential application in the detection of oil pipeline failures. A 1:6.5 scale prototype of the UAV is fabricated using a 3D printer. The aerodynamic coefficients of UAV are determined using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations and experimental testing with a subsonic wind tunnel. In addition, the lift and drag coefficients of UAVs are obtained as a function of Reynolds number and angle of attack. Also, the air velocity profile around UAV is estimated with the CFD model. The proposed UAV could decrease the inspection costs of pipeline networks in comparison with the use of helicopters or light aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]