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Structural Analysis of Arm of Multicopter with Various Loads

Research · April 2018

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27885.03049

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)

Structural Analysis of Arm of Multicopter with Various Loads

Brijesh Patel 1, R. P. Sukhija2, J. V. Sai Prassana Kumar3
1
PhD Scholar, 2Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering & IT, Mats University, Raipur (C.G.)
3
Professor, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, GKM College of Engineering, Chennai (T.N.)
Abstract: A great development occurs due to the use of 1.1 Types of Multicopter
small unmanned air systems known as drones, Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or Unmanned Aerial Systems. As this The Multicopter are generally classified and named by
systems have many components where major research have number of motors or blades. Such as four motors is known
been done which focuses on new applications of UAV’s, as quadcopter. Due to number of motors their performance
control optimization, Enhancement of Endurance Limit ,GPS, varies as there are many configurations as shown below:
Autopilot etc. There is small research done on Structural
Components of Hexarotor. In order to get High Endurance 1.1.1 Bicopter – 2 Motors multicopter:-
the structural Analysis has to perform. Multicopter possess a It has two motors which is moved by servos and it is less
light weight frame, high thrust motor landing gear and a stable and very complex to operate. It also has minimum
conventional structural arrangement There is a great need of payload capacity.
structural analysis of arm of multicopter with motor mounted
should be examined. Structural Vibration Analysis of Carbon
Fiber Arm of Hexarotor, as due to high RPM of Motors the
arm is affected by many structural loads. This paper discusses
the experimental and numerical vibration analysis of a
Hexarotor Arm and subordinate structure. This research
provides an analysis of the vibration sources affecting the
Hexarotor and an experimental modal analysis of the carbon
fiber arm of Hexarotor. The resulting data will provide the
area of low vibration, which results the mounting of other
instruments for better operation

Keywords: Hexarotor, UAV, Vibration, Carbon fiber, Figure 2: Bicopter8

Motor.
1.1.2 Tricopter – 3 Motors multicopter
I. INRODUCTION It has three motors which are arranged 120 0 apart in “Y”
shape. It can also be in “T” shape. It is also less stable and
A multirotor is an unmanned aerial vehicle with more
low payload capacity.
than two rotors with Vertical Take Off and landing
characteristics. An advantage of multicopter aircraft is the
simple rotor mechanics which provides better flight
control. Just as single and double rotor multicopters which
use different pitch rotors whose pitch varies as the blade
rotates, multirotors often use fixed-pitch blades which
controls system. By varying the relative speed of each rotor
the change in thrust and torque changes.

Figure 3: Tricopter9

Figure 1: Multicopter7

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)

Figure 4: Tricopter Rotation10

1.1.1.3 Quadcopter – 4 Motors multicopter

It is most stable form of Multicopter which has four
motors mounted on four arms of a symmetric frame. The Figure 7 H-Configuration13
balance force is created by two CW and CCW propellers 1.1.4 Y4 – 4 motors
mounted on opposite sides. It has simple mechanism, Its look is same as Tricopters but it has a unique tail
easiest to build and understand. servo. There are two normal propellers which are coaxially
mounted.

Figure 5: Quadcopter11

Quad copter have two configuration which are „X‟ type Figure 8: Y4 Quadcopter14
or „+‟ type.
Its weight is almost same as Tricopter but more than 1/3
lifting power. They are more reliable and stable than
tricopter.

Figure 6: Quadcopter Configuration12

Present days “H” configuration also becomes more

popular for aerial photography.

Figure 9: Y4 Quadcopter Motor Rotation15

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)
1.1.5 V-Tail – 4 motors
V-tail is a unique four motor quadcopter configuration
with its front motor are as same as normal quad but rear
motors are located closely and tilted with vertical angle. It
is a mixture of quadcopter and tricopter. It is not a
generalized configuration due to its lower power efficiency
and flight timings but it gives good orientation visibility.

Figure 12: Hexacopter18

1.1.7 Y6 – 6 Motors
It has six motors in “Y” shape frame which is similar to
tricopter consists of two motor per arm. It uses both CW
and CCW the Y6 has 6 motors in a “Y” shape
frame. Similar in shape to a tricopter but it has two motors
Figure 10: V-tail Multicopter16
per arm, one above and one below (6 motors in total). It
uses both CW and CCW propellers on the same arm.
1.1.6 Hexacopter – 6 Motors
Its name shows that it has six motors mounted on six
arms which are 60 degree apart. It has three sets of CW and
CCW propellers.

Figure 13: Y6 Multicopter Motor Layout19

It is the compact type of multicopter with similar lifting

a capacity as similar. Its efficiency is less due to coaxial
arrangement.
Figure 11: Hexacopter Motor Layout17
1.1.1.8 Octacopter – 8 Motors
It has similar characteristics to quadcopter but provides
more lifting power due to more number of motors. Octa means eight so this multicopter has eight motors
It has a failsafe characteristics as if one motor fail then with four sets of CW and four sets of CCW propellers.
also it will land safely.

Figure 14 : Octacopter Motor Layout20

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)
As it is similar to hexacopter with more lifting capacity. III. STRUCTRAL ANALYSIS
It is also reliable due to more two motors. All the parts of this model are analysis in the
SOLIDWORKS 2015 x64 Premium Edition. In this Edition
arm of the multicopter are simulated with in some
boundary condition. By the help of these analyses we can
estimate stress, strain, factor of safety and we can make our
model to the best working condition.
3.1 Design Insight
In this static analysis the model are weak in the given
highlighted area of the model, in region the extra material
should be applied for preventing the failure. The volume of
the element is the 22.94%.In this region their extra coating
Figure 15: Octacopter21 of resin and fiber should be applied for making it very
Its drawback is that it consumes more power due to strong and sustain large amount of load.
which it needs more battery which makes the system
expensive.
1.1.1.9 X8 – 8 Motors
An X type octacopter has eight motors mounted on four
X shaped arms with four CW and CCW propeller. Its
characteristics are similar to Y6.

Figure 18: Design Insight

3.2 Displacement Analysis

In this static analysis the certain amount of load are
applied to the motor mount. The maximum displacement
occurs in the motor mount which is 0.001034mm.
According to the result there is very small of amount of
displacement occur in the model. There is small
Figure 16: X8 Multicopter Motor Layout22
displacement occurring in the arm which means that the
arm is safe and there is no displacement in large amount so
II. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION that our design is safe according to these data.
Following are the problems identified in multicopter:
a. Lower Thrust Problem.
b. Vibration problem in arm and body.
c. Overheating of motor.
d. Balancing of weight or CG position.
e. Structural failure due to heavy payload.
f. Loose connection problems.
g. Navigation system problems.
h. Transmission & receiving Problem.
Figure 19: Displacement Analysis

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)
3.3 Factor of Safety 3.5 Stress Analysis
In the static structural analysis of the arm and mount it is Stress is the important property of the material according
find that the when the certain amount of load is applied in to strength point of view. Stress can be define as the ratio
the motor mount then the body will support up to the 2.4 of the load applied to the per unit area of the body. The
time of applied load. That means that the Factor of safety value of the stress at the point is 2.345×10 7 N/m2. This
of the body is 2.4. Factor of safety means that the it is the result proved that the design is very strong to sustain or
ratio of the ultimate load to the applied load. vary the load.

Figure 20: Factor of safety

3.4 Strain Analysis Figure 22: Load distribution in Arm

Strain is the unit less property of the material. Strain can 3.6 Model Information
be defined as the ratio of the change in length to the actual
length, when the load is applied to body. In our design the
maximum strain occur at the arm mount and arm where the
out is fixed due to this reason in that portion the maximum
strain occur. The value of maximum stain is 2.655×10 -4.

Figure 23: Multicopter Arm Model

Figure 21: Strain analysis

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)
Table 2: 3.7 Material Property
Stress Analysis Table 4:
Material Property
Model name: Assem2
Model Reference Properties Compone
Current Configuration: Default nts

Name: 2014-T4 Solid

Model type: Linear Body
Elastic 1(Boss-
Isotropic
Extrude1)
Default failure Max von
criterion: Misses (arm-1)
Solid Bodies Stress
Yield strength: 2.9e+008
Model Treated As Volumetric Properties N/m^2
Tensile 4.25e+008
strength: N/m^2
Compressive 4.25e+008
Boss-Extrude1 Solid Body Mass:0.0498759 kg strength: N/m^2
Elastic 7.24e+010
Volume:1.78128e-005 modulus: N/m^2
m^3 Poisson's ratio: 0.33
Mass density: 2800 kg/m^3
Density:2800 kg/m^3 Shear modulus: 2.8e+010
N/m^2
Thermal 2.3e-005
Weight:0.488784 N
expansion /Kelvin
coefficient:
Name: 1060 Alloy Solid
Model type: Linear Body
Cut-Extrude2 Solid Body Mass:0.0770969 kg Elastic 1(Cut-
Isotropic
Extrude2)
Volume:2.85544e-005 Default Max von
failure Misses (armmoun
m^3
criterion: Stress t-1),
Density:2700 kg/m^3 Yield 2.75742e+0
strength: 07 N/m^2 Solid
Weight:0.75555 N Tensile 6.89356e+0 Body
strength: 07 N/m^2 1(Cut-
Elastic 6.9e+010 Extrude1)
modulus: N/m^2 (motormo
Cut-Extrude1 Solid Body Mass:0.0157459 kg Poisson's 0.33 unt-1)
ratio:
Volume:5.83183e-006 Mass 2700
m^3 density: kg/m^3
Shear 2.7e+010
Density:2700 kg/m^3 modulus: N/m^2
Thermal 2.4e-005
Weight:0.15431 N
expansion /Kelvin
coefficient:

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)
3.8 Loads and Fixture Table 7:
Contact Information
Table 5:
Fixture
Global Type: Bonde
Fixtur Fixture Image Fixture Details Contac d
e name
t
Comp 1
Fixed- Entities: 4
3 face(s) onent comp
s: onent(
Type: Fixed s)
Geome
try
Optio Comp
ns: atible
Resultant Forces mesh
Components X Y Z Resultant
3.9 Resultant Forces
Table 8:
Reaction force(N) 0.00654921 -18.8131 0.00270986 Reaction Forces
18.8131

Selection U Sum X Sum Y Sum Z Result

set n ant
it
Reaction Moment(N.m) 0 0 0 0
s

Entire N 0.0065492 - 0.00270 18.813

Model 18.813 98 1
Table 6:
Load 1
Load Load Image Load Details
name Table 12
Reaction Moment
Force- Entities 1 Selection set Uni Su Su Su Resultant
2 : face(s)
ts mX mY mZ
Type: Apply
norma
Entire N.m 0 0 0 0
l force
Value: -19.6 Model
N

Force- Entities 1
4 : face(s)

Type: Apply
norma
l force

Value: 0.784
N

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
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IV. RESULTS 4.4 Factor of safety:
4.1 Stress

Figure 26: FOS Analysis

Minimum FOS: 2.40283

Maximum FOS: 9.05266
Figure 24: Stress Analysis

Minimum Stress: 0.00304598 N/m2

Maximum Stress: 2.49448007 N/m2
4.2 Displacement

Figure 26: Design Insight Result

The design and analysis of multicopter UAV has

successfully done. In this project our design is very
aerodynamic and compact. We did various analyses such as
Figure 25: Displacement Analysis structural analysis, flow simulation analysis. According to
Minimum Resultant Displacement: 0 mm analysis data we got the result which is very satisfactory
Maximum Resultant Displacement: 1.23393 mm and delightful. Our project is based on the rotor vehicles by
which we have designed this new UAV, there are too many
4.3 Strain used of drones now a days, in each field. Our main purpose
to design this UAV is to replace the old technology which
is using in India. Our design can provide a better result and
performance. Budget of our project is very low as compare
to the other drones. It compress all the feature which
consist in other drone those are very costly in nature. It is
basically design for military operation to provide best
information of battle field and perform some operation in
the battle field. It have night vision camera, duplex
communication system by which it can operate at night and
we can send some information to other live by duplex
Figure 26: Strain Displacement Analysis communication system. The future aspect of the project is
to develop the thermal sensor camera, increase the flight
Minimum Strain: 1.44601007 time of UAV and give better performance. In future this
Maximum Strain: 0.000280427 UAV can be used for not only defense purpose but also
civil purpose

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, UGC Approved List of Recommended Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2018)
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