Experimental Vibration Analysis of a Composite UAV Wing

Abstract

This article describes the details of an experimental investigation focusing on vibration characteristics of a carbon composite ultralight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Modal characteristics of the UAV wings are obtained and compared for two separate configurations: (1) wings mounted on the suspended aircraft to simulate a free-free arrangement and (2) a single wing mounted vertically in a fixture to test in a shaker-table approach. All structural components are fabricated from oven-cured laminated carbon composite materials using uniaxial and biaxial prepreg fabric. Multiple dual-axis accelerometers on the wing structure are used to determine the dynamic properties.