Toroidal Aircraft with Inflatable Structure for Damage Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small, lightweight aircraft with low wing loading face challenges in maintaining structural integrity, control, and stability, especially at slow speeds and high angles of attack, due to fragile designs and the inability to withstand gusts and damage, which limits their operational capabilities and safety.
Innovation Solution
A semi-circular planform aircraft design with a toroidal structure and integrated all-moving canard control surfaces, utilizing tensioned nets and inflatable components for strength and damage resistance, allowing for efficient storage and deployment, and mounting the propeller near the center of gravity to reduce pitch instability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the aircraft structure is made lighter to reduce weight, then fuel efficiency and performance improve, but structural strength and damage resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible membrane skin that can stretch and deform during impact events, absorbing energy while maintaining structural integrity. This flexible shell approach allows the aircraft to be lightweight yet damage-tolerant, as the membrane can accommodate deformations without catastrophic failure, resolving the contradiction between light weight and structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The aircraft incorporates energy-absorbing structures and damage-tolerant design elements that are pre-configured to cushion impact forces. These include deformable landing gear, crushable zones in the fuselage, and flexible wing roots that are designed to absorb impact energy before it reaches critical structural components, enabling lightweight construction while maintaining damage resistance.
2Weight of moving object
If the tail is made smaller to reduce weight, then overall aircraft weight decreases, but control authority and stability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a canard configuration where the forward horizontal stabilizer generates lift that counterbalances the pitching moment from the main wing. This canard acts as a counterweight in the pitch axis, providing sufficient control authority with a small, lightweight tail structure. The canard's position ahead of the center of gravity allows it to effectively balance aerodynamic moments without requiring heavy tail surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs differential drag devices on the canard and tail surfaces, utilizing drag (a force perpendicular to the traditional lift vector) as a control dimension. By deflecting these surfaces to create differential drag, the aircraft achieves pitch and roll control without relying solely on large lifting surfaces, thereby maintaining control authority with reduced tail size and weight.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the propeller is mounted farther from the center of gravity to improve thrust efficiency, then propulsion efficiency improves, but pitch stability and controllability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a flight control system that actively compensates for propeller-induced pitch moments. Sensors detect pitch rate and angle of attack, and the control system adjusts canard and tail surface deflections in real-time to counteract unwanted pitch movements caused by propeller thrust. This feedback control allows the propeller to be positioned for optimal efficiency while maintaining pitch stability through active aerodynamic compensation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses asymmetric canard and tail surface areas, with the canard having a larger area than the tail. This asymmetric configuration creates a natural pitch moment balance that counteracts the pitching tendency from the propeller mounted ahead of the center of gravity. The larger canard area provides sufficient nose-up moment to balance the propeller's nose-down moment, allowing efficient propeller placement while maintaining pitch stability.
4Use of energy by moving object
If high aspect ratio wings are used to improve lift efficiency, then lift-to-drag ratio improves, but gust response and controllability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible, dynamically responsive wing structures that can adapt their shape in response to gust loads. The wings incorporate flexible spars and membrane skins that allow controlled deformation during gust encounters, reducing peak loads while maintaining lift efficiency. This dynamic flexibility enables the wings to respond adaptively to changing aerodynamic conditions, improving gust response without sacrificing the high aspect ratio geometry needed for efficient lift generation.
Data Source
AI summary
Integration of structure and aerodynamic shape results in a Damage Resistant Unmanned Aircraft, Capable of surviving ground handling and impacts with plants, wires, solid objects and water. The structure dismantles for transport and storage into a small space, that is resistant to damage. The aerodynamic arrangement has a improved ability to fly controllably in the gusty environment that causes difficulty for small light weight aircraft. A method of mounting pneumatic and fabric shapes onto a Damage Resistant Aircraft with parts facilitating a round structure. Use of the pneumatic shapes to adjust the length and stiffness of the post. The post produces tension on the structure that It presses against. Inflatable post ends and an attachment system. Multi piece removable wing tips which allow deflation, access and small folding volume of the inflatable structure. All tension rudders are formed inside the net structure where it is protected from damage.