Application of Carbon Fiber Composites in the Elevating Mechanism of an Unmanned Airborne Electro-Optical Platform

Abstract:

In order to reduce the weight of the elevating mechanism, which is a component of an unmanned airborne electro-optical platform, and improve its rigidity and strength, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) is utilized to fabricate three supporting plates of the elevating mechanism. Finite element analysis has been conducted to compare the new material CFRP with the current material: aluminum alloy. Due to excellent mechanical properties such as lower density as well as higher rigidity and strength, the new material decreases the weight of the elevating mechanism by 4.4kg, reduces the maximum deformation by 61%, and increases the natural frequency by 51%, when compared with aluminum alloy. Furthermore, the high reliability of the CFRP based elevating mechanism has been verified by vibration test and practical flight test. Because its the first time to apply carbon fiber composites on elevating mechanism of an airborne electro-optical platform, this paper not only achieves good results but also makes effective exploration for the application of new aviation materials.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 760-762)
• Pages: 719-723
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.760-762.719
• Online since: September 2013
• Authors: Ping Wang, Guo Yu Zhang, Wei Wang, Jia Yan Liu
• Keywords: Carbon Fiber/Epoxy, Composite, Elevating Mechanism, Finite Element

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