Carbon fiber composite materials are widely used in the field of defense aviation due to their unique properties. Carbon fiber is light in weight, strong in strength, high in stiffness, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant. Therefore, when drones are popular, technology researchers are also considering applying carbon fiber composite materials to the shell of drones. Can better reduce the quality.
Because the drone does not need to consider the limitations of human physiological capacity in the structural design, it can focus more on the design of the maneuverability of the drone, so that it has some new features that are different from the manned aircraft in the selection of materials. . In addition, drones are often used to perform special tasks such as aerial reconnaissance, surveillance, communications, anti-submarine, electronic interference, etc., which also makes the carbon fiber composite material show its application advantages in many aspects.
1. Integral-body forming
Unmanned aerial vehicles often have a flying wing-like overall aerodynamic shape with a high degree of wing-body fusion, which requires large-area integral-body forming technology to be used in the structure. After the simulation and calculation of carbon fiber composite materials, not only large-area integral molding can be carried out through molding, hot-pressing and external curing process, but also automatic assembly line production process can be introduced to improve efficiency and greatly reduce production costs. The fuselage structure is very suitable for large-scale manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Compared with traditional metal materials, composite materials have the characteristics of high specific strength and specific stiffness, low thermal expansion coefficient, strong fatigue resistance and vibration resistance. Take carbon fiber UAV parts tailored by a UAV manufacturer as an example. According to the manufacturer's feedback, the drone using carbon fiber material has reduced the overall weight by about 25% -30% compared with the traditional material drone.
2. Great specific strength and specific rigidity
Compared with other composite materials, under the premise of satisfying the same strength and rigidity of the drone body, the high specific strength and high specific rigidity of the carbon fiber composite material can greatly reduce the body weight of the drone and reduce the load of the drone. The cost is of great significance to the lightweight, miniaturization and high performance of the drone structure to ensure that the drone has a longer flight distance and flight time.
The characteristics of lightweight, high specific strength and modulus of composite materials are often used in the design of UAV composite materials. Mainly through the organic combination of good mechanical properties of reinforcing materials (carbon fiber, glass fiber, etc.) and the bonding of basic materials (resin).
3. Good corrosion resistance and heat resistance
Carbon fiber composite materials also have excellent corrosion resistance and heat resistance, can withstand the effects of corrosion and thermal expansion of water and various media in nature, and can meet the special requirements of long storage life under various environmental conditions of drones. Life cycle cost of use and maintenance.
The composite material itself can be designed. Without changing the weight of the structure, it can be optimized according to the strength and stiffness requirements of the aircraft; the design and manufacturing technology meets the large The characteristic of integral molding of area.
4. Implantable chip or alloy conductor
Carbon fiber composite materials can also be implanted with chips and alloy conductors to form a high-tech structural whole, which can be used in harsh environments for a long time without destroying the performance of the implanted equipment, and can reliably perform special tasks.
With the rise of the consumer drone market and the advancement of carbon fiber composite technology, the future application of carbon fiber in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles is inestimable.