Analysis of wing twist effects on hover flight dynamics of a single rotor aerial craft

Advancements in control theory and the miniaturization of microelectronics has led to significant improvements in the aerial characteristics and performance of single rotor aerial crafts. These single rotor aerial crafts are of particular interest as they can be considered true hybrids between traditional fixed-wing crafts and the maneuverable multi-rotor platforms, allowing both VTOL capabilities as well as extended endurance. Currently, the dynamic models used to describe these novel crafts are hindered by the lack of an optimized wing design that caters to the single rotor aerial craft's unique flight envelope. Hence, this paper seeks to investigate and explore wing models with specific twist angles across the wingspan so as to improve the craft's hover performance and in turn, its endurance. Simulation results suggest that for the wing twist characteristic, a reciprocal function model outperforms linear function models in terms of induced power loss without incurring any significant drawbacks to existing design setups. With the advent of digital fabrication, such customized and intricate wing designs can be more easily realized.