Design and Computational Analysis of Y-tail Configuration for Maritime Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

This Research article discusses the Tail design of a Maritime Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). These vehicles are used in the marine environment for surveillance and monitoring of ships and coastal areas. The objective is to design a tail with less drag and more stability. The tail components are designed considering the wing, avionics, and winglets. The analysis and correlations are made to find the most suitable tail configuration with a vertical tail volume of 0.845, with respect to the wing configuration, for better results. The Y-tail configuration provides more directional stability at a higher angle of attack with less interference drag. It is concluded that Y-tail provides the CL range from 0.595 to 1.157 for the conditions raised with different angles of attack and different velocities, and it allows for maximum maneuverability and better aerodynamic characteristics than other tails which are compared here.