Fuel-sensitivity Analyses for Range and Endurance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The function of the relative change in fuel weight for the range and endurance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) linking the end of cruise weight,mean lift to drag ratio and mean specific fuel consumption(SFC) is investigated in this paper.It is assumed that end of cruise weight,mean lift to drag ratio and mean SFC are independent variables,the linear expression of a relative change in cruise fuel weight for jet and piston-propeller UAV is formulated by partial derivatives method.The fuel-sensitivity analyses for range and endurance of UAV are validated by two applications.The results of relative change in fuel weight by linear expression are well to the results by considering the combined effect of all three parameters.The results of the investigation show that the fuel sensitivity analysis models for range and endurance of UAV are reasonable.