Experimental investigation on the vertical gust response characteristics of the MAV with flexible structure

Micro aerial vehicle(MAV) is a new type of aircraft,which has traits of mini volume,light weight,higher flexibility,low cost,etc.So MAV could be extensively applied to military and civil fields,including reconnaissance,communication,and rescue.Concerned with several obstacles of restricting the MAV development,the gust is the most important factor that affects the MAV to flight safely and steadily.The equipment for generating vertical gust is developed and an angle surveying method which could be applied on the vertical gust flow field is studied.Then a rigid wing MAV and a flexible wing MAV of a flying wing configuration are designed and fabricated.The vertical gust experiment for MAV is carried out in unsteady wind tunnel of NUAA.The results show that the flexible wing can increase the stall angle of attack.At the same time,it has better longitudinal stability.The flexible wing has the ability of alleviating the effects of vertical gust which benefits to safe and steady flight.