Publications

Purpose. The current research conducts a comprehensive review on FishBAC (fishbone active camber morphing wing surfaces) for researchers and scientists and sheds light on challenges and opportunities of FishBAC development.

Design/methodology/approach. This is a review article and this study reviews previous research on FishBAC.

Findings. The current FishBAC applications could be upgraded into more efficient designs in materials, design and mechanisms with more perspectives involved. Then, this promising branch of morphing surface design could be integrated with rotor blades, unmanned aerial vehicle wings, general aviation aircraft surfaces and so on.

Research limitations/implications. This is a review article.

Practical implications. The contributions of the study are summarized as follows: to provide an overview of FishBAC research; to compare various approaches and trends in FishBAC designs; to address the research gap in the roadmap for FishBAC design; and to discuss the challenges and opportunities of FishBAC development.

Originality/value. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review on a promising morphing method and an alternative for conventional flaps and ailerons.

The implementation of morphing wing applications in aircraft design has sparked significant interest as it enables the dimensional properties of the aircraft to be modified during flight. By allowing manipulation of the 2D and 3D parameters on the aircraft’s wings, tail surfaces, or fuselage, a variety of possibilities have arisen. Two primary schools of thought have emerged in the field of morphing wing applications: the mechanisms school and the smart surfaces approach that uses shape-memory materials and smart actuators. Among the research in this field, the Fishbone Active Camber (FishBAC) approach has emerged as a promising avenue for controlling the deflection of the wing’s trailing edge. This study revisits previous research on morphing wings and the FishBAC concept, evaluates the current state of the field, and presents an original design process flow that includes the design of a unique and innovative UAV called the Stingray within the scope of the study. A novel morphing concept developed for the Stingray UAV, Rear Spar Articulated Wing Camber (RSAWC), employs a fishbone-like morphing wing rib design with rear spar articulation in a cost-effective manner. The design process and flight tests of the RSAWC are presented and directly compared with a conventional wing. Results are evaluated based on performance, weight, cost, and complexity. Semi-empirical data from the flight testing of the concept resulted in approximately a 19% flight endurance increment. The study also presents future directions of research on the RSAWC concept to guide the researchers.

Commercial aerial drone systems have gained significance in various industries, such as agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, cargo transport, security, and filming. This paper comprehensively reviews the trends and innovative research areas in commercial drone technology. The top five usage areas of drones are surveyed, and a master list of drone usage areas in the commercial sectors is provided. Furthermore, the current bottlenecks of the drone industry, such as endurance problems, noise issues, mid-air collision risks, navigation problems, insurance policies, and a lack of technical education opportunities, are evaluated. Finally, a list of innovative and trending research areas for drone technology is presented, which includes alternative energy sources, wireless charging methods, hybrid VTOL-drones, bio-inspired designs, and more. This paper serves as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs and researchers interested in drone-related technologies, and it has the potential to guide the future industry development.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are efficient platforms for the inspection and detection of hazardous particle emission locations in terms of cost and ability to reach challenging areas. In this study, a custom quadcopter UAV with metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) type carbon monoxide (CO) sensor and data acquisition module is designed to detect and measure CO pollution over industrial sites and urban areas. Unlike similar studies, a rope hanging design is used for sensor extension and collected data transmitted to the cloud using internet of things (IoT) technology. Flight tests are conducted to collect measurements over an area with a controlled fire to replicate industrial chimneys. CO readings on 26 data points result in between 0 and 4 PPM concerning their distance to the pollution zone. Therefore, a heatmap is created using real-time GPS locations and measured CO concentrations. Challenges in this operation are explained to guide future researchers and entrepreneurs.

Solar energy is a source of alternative energy for fossil fuels. The importance of solar energy is due to its qualities. It is both unlimited and nondestructive to nature. It also has zero emissions and limitations unlike fossil fuels. In this study, the conceptual design of a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), with six hours of endurance, is performed. An evaluation of the literature and powertrain architecture design is carried out. Components, such as solar panels, battery, and Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) are evaluated. The city of Eskisehir in Turkey is selected as a flight region with a continental climate. Flight environment and solar energy generation efficiency are investigated. Monthly sunshine times are calculated and compared with the semi empirically calculated power requirement of the UAV. It has been found that the UAV that is the subject of this study can achieve six hours of solar flight during the period between the fourth and the tenth months in Eskisehir, with 472.29 Wh of electrical energy required to be generated within a 1.084 m2 wing area.

The main objective of this paper is to perform thermodynamic analysis of a TF33 turbofan engine fueled by hydrogen as opposed to kerosene. Considering the performance parameters, environmental indicators, and sustainability metrics of the TF33 operating with hydrogen and kerosene, a comprehensive thermodynamic comparison is achieved. In addition, its performance, and its environmental, and sustainability assessments are thermodynamically evaluated. Accordingly, the following is noticed at the take-off phase as an outcome of a transition from the kerosene-turbofan to the previously mentioned hydrogen-turbofan: (i) The fuel flow reduces by 63.83%; (ii) The specific fuel consumption decreases by 60.61%; (iii) The energy efficiency reduces by 0.757%; (iv) The thermal limit ratio decreases by 1.55%; (v) The fuel cost rate increases by 290.91%; (vi) The environmental effect factor (EEF) for combustion chamber (CC) increases by 14.25%; (vii) and the sustainable efficiency factor (SEF) and exergetic sustainability index (ESI) for CC reduce by 6.72% and 12.51%, respectively. In addition, the benefits and drawbacks of using hydrogen as fuel in the engine are presented comprehensively under the guidance of the results. The main contribution of this research lies in whether or not the result of using hydrogen as a fuel in gas turbine engines by employing thermodynamic analysis results in a more efficient and more environmentally friendly engine.

Fuel cells are considered to be a promising system that is utilized in several applications and in various sectors. Particle image velocimetry is extremely practicable for the exploration of the flow field inside fuel cells and channels. This paper reviews fuel cell studies focusing on the particle image velocimetry technique in the open literature. In this regard, state-of-the-art and comparative evaluation have been investigated and are discussed. Additionally, challenges, opportunities and future direction have been studied in terms of fuel cell type, size, voltage value, current value, power output capacity, and CFD applications. It is concluded that the growing demand on fuel cells will increase system design, performance improvement and cost benefit efforts affected by the flow and design parameters and characteristics which are other important issues that could be covered using PIV methods in the future. Moreover, this review paper is expected to be a better guide for researchers, policy makers and technologists working on potential commercial applications of fuel cells in mobile and stationary platforms.

The flight endurance of UAV systems is an important issue that restricts the operational capabilities. Thus, different energy systems and alternative onboard energy generation systems have been tested for the UAVs. Within these systems, fuel cells provide high energy density that can increase flight endurance greatly. In this study, a PEM fuel cell e Li- Po battery hybrid system has been developed by evaluating three architecture models. In the guide of the experimental power demand data of a fixed-wing UAV, modeling and testing procedures were performed. Battery voltage and fuel cell current variations observed during the ground tests were evaluated. It has been observed that approximately 160e170 W of the 250 W power is met by the fuel cell since no preconditioning has been applied and the temperature values at which the fuel cell exhibits its optimum performance. In the case where the fuel cell could provide 7.8 An under conditions where the humidification effects were not included in the model, the required current was over 7.8 A between approximately 400-1200 s. The fuel cell and battery behavior in response to the sudden power changes and to the uncertainties corresponding to the changes in the motor power during the flight are also detailed.

Fossil fuels are being depleted day by day. The dependency on fossil fuels must be eliminated in the following years. Also, in the matter of emissions, the cleaner energy generation and usage techniques must be evaluated. The aviation industry is a big energy consumer nowadays. More electric aircraft and All-electric aircraft concepts are being worked on globally to achieve a sustainable aviation industry. Though the electric motors can produce enough thrust force for airliners, due to energy storage technology limitations, the thrust force can’t be sustained for a long duration flight. Battery technologies are being developed to overcome these limitations. Moreover, hybrid energy systems and sustainable onboard energy generation systems are trending to achieve sustainability. Fuel Cell and Hybrid Fuel Cell systems are two of the feasible onboard energy systems. The applications of these systems on UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) produce data for later studies. The system’s behavior during flight phases must be examined on platforms like mini UAVs to understand the system capabilities. In this work, the development phases of a mini UAV designed for Hybrid Fuel Cell flight are introduced. Design philosophy and methodology for designing a UAV with a hybrid propulsion system, limitations of such designs and iterations required during the flight tests are explained. Also, the detailed design estimations of power consumption and final power consumption data collected from flight tests of the aircraft were compared to provide valuable data for following power consumption limited aircraft design studies.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have excelled with their ability to perform the intended task on or without personnel. In recent years, UAVs have been designed for civilian purposes as well as military applications. Morphing wings are changeable wing applications developed as a result of the need for a different lift and drag forces in various phases of the flight of aircraft. It is an application that enables altering the wing aspect ratio, wing airfoil, wing airfoil camber ratio, wing reference area and even different angles of attack are obtained in different parts of the wing. Although morphing wing application has just begun on today’s UAVs, modern airliners already have morphing wingtip devices such as Boeing 777-X’s. The benefits of the use of morphing wings for UAVs make this technology important. UAVs with morphing wing technology; may increase its payload ratio, may achieve a shorter take-off distance, may land and stop in shorter distance, may take-off where runway clearance is limited, has more efficient altitude change at lower engine RPMs, can obtain higher cruise speeds, may decrease its stall speed, may lower its drag if necessary, thus; saving energy and time. This study concludes a review of literature over morphing wing technology.