Design Goals: Our long-term goal is to design an eVTOL air taxi competitive with industry leaders. Our first iteration, shown here, was to test our propulsion and avionics systems and gauge our manufacturing capabilities. For our next iteration, which is in the conceptual design phase, we are focusing on the following constraints. Simplicity; as a student org with a limited budget, our design choices are driven by simplicity in design and manufacturing. Passenger-capable; we are passionate about Urban and Regional Air Mobility and are designing vehicles that goes beyond package delivery.
Challenges: When I was Structures Lead, we had finalized our design and were ready to begin purchasing material and manufacturing. When we spoke with a manufacturing expert we learned that Aluminum 6061 is very difficult to weld for novices - very brittle and fails easily. I led the redesign instead using Steel 4130 and by thinning the round tubing outer diameters, I saved both weight and cost.
Before I was elected president our club had no funding. In my first semester as president, I raised over $10k through grants and immediately begin purchasing materials and supplies to begin manufacturing.
Roles: President, Structures Team Lead, Structures Member
Processes Employed: SolidWorks CAD and Analysis, Vibrata, MIG welding
Design Goals: Upon joining the team, I took initiative and developed my own research questions and pursued my interests in UAM vehicle design. I led a small team of undergraduates and developed a Direct Operating Cost model to compare vehicles, built a vehicle database of over 40 UAM vehicles, and wrote object-oriented classes for my modules. My paper was accepted to AIAA Aviation 2021.
VTOL Business Jet
Mach 0.7 Jet for 6 passengers, 1200 km range with VTOL capability
Course: AAE 451: Aircraft Senior Design
Design Goals: Our nine-person team is designing and sizing the aerodynamic, propulsion, controls, and structural components for a VTOL business jet capable of a Mach 0.7 cruise speed.
Challenges: I joined a team where I knew one other member. At first I self-assigned and communicated what tasks I was working on, but no one else was communicating or working on the project. After a couple weeks, I stepped up as a leader and organized meetings, set agendas, and assigned subteams and tasks. My role on the team evolved into the Structures Lead position.
Roles: I modeled our vehicle is OpenVSP initially and more detailed models in SolidWorks. I also designed the primary and secondary internal structures and performed FEA to validate our design choices. We earned an A+ in the course and received positive feedback at our industry CDR presentation.
CAD model of vehicle of structural assembly and notional models for battery, motors, and rotors.
Preliminary FEA of the wing to size the ribs and spars.
