Finite Element Method such as Abaqus software is increasingly used to analyze structures such as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Wing. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is usually fabricated using synthetic materials such as Glass fibers, Carbon fibers and Kevlar. The problems with the synthetic fibers are environmental pollution during processing, energy consumption during processing and cost of production. Natural fibres can be used as replacement for synthetic fibers due to their comparable physical and mechanical properties.
The research involves the simulation of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle wing made from 5% Cold Alkaline treated 5% Sterculia Setigera Delile fiber (SSD) at 0-degree orientation and 7.5% Pterocarpus Erinaceus (PTE) Wood dust Epoxy composite using Abaqus software. The wing was subjected to aerodynamic wing loading from 167.57 N to 895 N (3 kg to 16 kg).
The result showed that the wing produced using the Novel material could withstand the most critical flight load distribution in conformation with Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) part 23 Airworthiness standards with an ultimate design load of 5.7. At the point of failure, the wing could withstand an Ultimate load factor of 20.26.
Structural physical testing was performed for a wing loading of 167.75 N to 335.50 N (3 kg to 6 kg). The wing successfully resisted the critical in-flight loading confirming the simulation result. The Novel material of lower density (1.093 g/cm3) could withstand the wing loading requirement making it suitable for the UAV wing application.
