Estimation of Drag Polar for ABT-18 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

An aircraft travelling through air generates aerodynamic forces known as drag and lift forces which will affect its general performance. Several approaches including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), experimental (wind tunnel) and analytical methods have been used to explain, estimate and optimize drag forces during aircraft design. This work compares the drag polar forces of a standard ABT-18 to a modified ABT-18, which is modified to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). As part of an extension of service life programme of the Nigerian Air Force, the ABT-18 is being converted into a UAV. As such, this study attempts to derive an accurate and simple mathematical model to estimate the drag polar of the UAV version of the ABT-18. The results of the estimation for the parabolic drag polar of the ABT-18 UAV has been obtained successfully. This was achieved using an analytical method. However, the CFD method could be employed to further investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of the ABT-18 UAV for proper performance optimization