Preliminary stability analysis of a low-speed blended wing unmanned aerial vehicle

Nowadays, environmentally friendly aviation is one of the most challenging topics in the aerospace world. Research about different ways to improve aircraft efficiency explores every possible aspect of the design process, from particularly aerodynamically efficient shapes to hybrid propulsion systems, with the aim to achieve net-zero emissions in the near future. Green Raven is a student-focused research project of a technological demonstrator platform for a blended wing-body UAV powered via a hybrid/electric motor for sustainable aviation. In this thesis, the stability characteristics of the Green Raven are investigated in order to carry out an assessment of the flying qualities of the design. The study consists of a series of wind tunnel tests, performed at the L2000 low-speed wind tunnel facility at KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, to gather the data needed to create an updated aerodynamic database of the UAV. A highlight on wind tunnel corrections is provided, regarding wall interference, blockage effects, and support corrections. Data obtained from the wind tunnel test is then corrected using a script developed in MATLAB and the corrected aerodynamics coefficients are obtained.