Vortex Particle Aerodynamic Modelling of Perching Manoeuvres with Micro Air Vehicles

This paper investigates the modeling of transient aerodynamic behaviour on micro air vehicles at angles of attack from zero to well above stall. These angles of attack are seen in extreme manoeuvres, in this case perching, where highly threedimensional flow can occur due to low aspect ratios, wing segmentation, planform changes, or other physical reconfigurations of the vehicle. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop a fast yet robust 3-D unsteady aerodynamic model to be used in trajectory simulations as part of a design tool to guide the design of control systems to perform highly acrobatic manoeuvres. This paper focuses on the development of a vortex particle method to model the unsteady flow of perching manoeuvres and comparison its results with experimental results and reduced order engineering models.