Structural Optimization of Drone Wing

grabcad

I developed a lean and efficient wing design concept for drones. I compared my design to the design provided by Fathom. I was able to decrease deflection in the drone wing by a 1000 times. Both designs are made out of ABS and have the same weight (21g) and length (127mm). I gave my design a honeycomb shape internal structure. I applied 50N (11.2lbs) of downward force to where the motor would be to both wings and ran FEA in Solidworks. For the Fathom Drone the deflection was 14.88mm and the redesign wing was .014mm. That’s an enormous different in deflection. If I was to continue optimizing my design I would find the max allowable deflection in the wings and decrease size and weight to fit the parameters. Doing this would decrease the weight of the drone to allow the drone to achieve much more. Also this design concept can be applied to other parts of the drone like the legs supports. As well as being a lean design the round shape will cause less drag than the Fathom design. The honeycomb structure is a complex shape and can only be manufactured in a 3D printer.