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Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000
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Procedia Manufacturing 16 (2018) 61–66
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000
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7th International Conference on Through-life Engineering Services
7th International Conference on Through-life Engineering Services
Simulating mechanical stress on a micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Simulating
(UAV) mechanical
body frame stressforon a micromaintenance
selecting Unmanned AerialactionsVehicle
(UAV) body frame
Manufacturing Engineering Society for selecting maintenance
International Conference
2017,a Vigo (Pontevedra), Spain
2017, actions
MESIC 2017, 28-30 June
Alberto Martinetti* , Mihran Margaryan , Leo van Dongen
b a

Alberto Martinetti* a
, Mihran
UniversityMargaryan
b
, Leo5,van Dongen a
Costing models for
Department of Design,
capacity
Production
optimization
and Management,
in Industry
of Twente, Drienerlolaan Enschede
4.0: Trade-off
7522 NB, The Netherlands
a

National
b
Polytechnic University of Armenia, 0009 Yerevan, Armenia
Department of Design, Production and Management, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, Enschede 7522 NB, The Netherlands
a

between National usedPolytechnic

b
capacity and
University operational
of Armenia, efficiency
0009 Yerevan, Armenia

Abstract
Abstract
A. Santanaa, P. Afonsoa,*, A. Zaninb, R. Wernkeb
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are part of our society. According to recent reports from retail research, sales of drones
have been tripled over the last few years
a
University of Minho,
to about $200 4800-058
million. Guimarães,
The aim Portugal
of the paper is to highlight the most relevant
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) arebUnochapecó, part of our society.
89809-000 According to recent
Chapecó, SC, Brazil reports from retail research, sales of drones
maintenance actions to take in order to properly maintain commercial UAVs. Describing the main components and
have been tripled over the last few years to about $200 million. The aim of the paper is to highlight the most relevant
characteristics of a UAV, the research wants to provide quick guidelines and suggestions for effectively maintaining micro
maintenance actions to take in order to properly maintain commercial UAVs. Describing the main components and
UAVs. Based on a structure analysis and on the most common flying modes, firstly the paper simulates mechanical stresses on
characteristics of a UAV, the research wants to provide quick guidelines and suggestions for effectively maintaining micro
the UAV quadcopter body frames using Finite Element Methods (FEM). Secondly, it analyses the results highlighting the weak
Abstract
UAVs. Based on a structure analysis and on the most common flying modes, firstly the paper simulates mechanical stresses on
aspects of the structure in order to predict possible failure mechanisms and to create effective maintenance approach for
the UAV quadcopter body frames using Finite Element Methods (FEM). Secondly, it analyses the results highlighting the weak
guaranteeing high level of product reliability and availability. Finally, it discusses the results for ensuring constant mechanical
Under
aspects the concept
of the structureof in"Industry
order to 4.0",
predictproduction processes
possible failure will be
mechanisms andpushed to effective
to create be increasingly interconnected,
maintenance approach for
properties and performance for the entire lifetime of the product.
guaranteeing based
information high level
on aofreal
product
timereliability
basis and, andnecessarily,
availability. much
Finally, it discusses
more theInresults
efficient. for ensuring
this context, constant
capacity mechanical
optimization
properties
goes beyondandthe
performance
traditional foraim
the of
entire lifetime
capacity of the product.contributing also for organization’s profitability and value.
maximization,
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Indeed,
This is an
© 2018
2018 lean
open
The management
accessPublished
Authors. and
article under
by continuous
the CC BY-NC-ND improvement approaches suggest capacity optimization instead of
license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
© The
maximization. Authors.
The Published
study of by Elsevier
Elsevier
capacity
B.V.
B.V.
optimization and costing models is an important research topic thatEngineering
deserves
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 7th International Conference
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) on Through-life
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
contributions from
Peer-review under
Services. both the practical
responsibility and theoretical
of the scientific committee of perspectives. This paper
the 7th International presents
Conference and discusses
on Through-life a mathematical
Engineering Services.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 7th International Conference on Through-life Engineering
model for capacity management based on different costing models (ABC and TDABC). A generic model has been
Services.
Keywords:, UAV, Qaudcopter, Finite Element Methods (FEM), Mechanical Stress, Maintenance
developed and it was used to analyze idle capacity and to design strategies towards the maximization of organization’s
value. TheUAV,
Keywords:, trade-off capacity
Qaudcopter, maximization
Finite Element vs operational
Methods (FEM), Mechanicalefficiency is highlighted and it is shown that capacity
Stress, Maintenance
optimization might hide operational inefficiency.
1. 2017
© Introduction
The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference
1. Introduction
Nowadays along with development of modern technologies the design and development of Unmanned Aerial
2017.
Vehicles (UAV)
Nowadays is getting
along more and more
with development popular,technologies
of modern generating technical andand
the design operational issuesofand
development safety concerns
Unmanned Aerial
related toCost
Keywords: their application
Models; in non-segregated
ABC; TDABC; airspace
Capacity Management; [1]. Many
Idle Capacity; companies
Operational being are
involved
Efficiency in
Vehicles (UAV) is getting more and more popular, generating technical and operational issues and safety the design of
concerns
UAVs. One of the most common UAV structures is the quad-rotor layout. The reason is that quad-rotor
related to their application in non-segregated airspace [1]. Many companies are being involved in the design of aerial
UAVs. One of the most common UAV structures is the quad-rotor layout. The reason is that quad-rotor aerial
1. Introduction
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +31(0)534896609; fax: +31(0)53 489 2513
E-mail address: a.martinetti@utwente.nl
* Corresponding
The cost ofauthor. Tel.: +31(0)534896609;
idle capacity is a fundamental fax: +31(0)53 489 2513
information for companies and their management of extreme importance
E-mail address: a.martinetti@utwente.nl
in modern©production
2351-9789 systems.
2018 The Authors. In general,
Published it isB.V.
by Elsevier defined as unused capacity or production potential and can be measured
in
Thisseveral ways:
is an open accesstons
articleofunder
production, available
the CC BY-NC-ND hours
license of manufacturing, etc. The management of the idle capacity
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
2351-9789 ©under
Peer-review 2018responsibility
The Authors. ofPublished
the761; by Elsevier
scientific B.V.of the 7th International Conference on Through-life Engineering Services.
committee
* Paulo Afonso. Tel.: +351 253 510 fax: +351 253 604 741
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
E-mail address:
Peer-review psafonso@dps.uminho.pt
under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 7th International Conference on Through-life Engineering Services.

2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review
2351-9789 © under
2018responsibility
The Authors. of the scientificbycommittee
Published Elsevier of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017.
B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 7th International Conference on Through-life Engineering Services.
10.1016/j.promfg.2018.10.160
62 Alberto Martinetti et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 16 (2018) 61–66
2 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

vehicles are versatile, easy to construct, and they have vertical take-off and landing feature. Several studies [2-11]
were carried out to determine mechanical stresses on different components of quadcopters. However, there are only
few studies that establish a relation between mechanical stresses and necessary maintenance actions for UAVs.
Figure 1 summarized the steps performed during the research.

Fig. 1. Flow diagram of the methodology used

In essence, the classic structure of quadcopter is a frame with four arms and brush-less electric motors positioned
at the end of each arm. The main parts of a copter are the frame, motors, propellers, electronic speed controller
(ESC) and batteries. The angle between the four arms may vary, but the most common configurations adopt angular
diameter of 90 and 120 degrees. Propellers on each rotor are creating vertical thrust. The propellers positioned on the
same diagonal have same direction of rotation to prevent the spin of the copter in the air. Regulating the round per
minute (RPM) of each motor is possible to change the moving direction, to hoover the copter in the air, etc.
The quadcopter movement can be divided in four different states (Fig.2):
 by creating an equal rotational speed of the propellers on each motor the quadcopter generates enough lift
force to move upward/downward (a);
 by increasing the rotational speed of the propellers on motors on the same diagonal, the quadcopter
produces yaw motion (b);
 by increasing the rotational speed of the propellers on motors on the same side –front motors or rear
motors- the quadcopter achieves pitch (c) and roll motion (d);

Fig. 2. (a) Upward/Downward Motion (Z direction); (b) Yaw Motion; (c) Pitch Motion; (d) Roll Motion.
 Alberto Martinetti et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 16 (2018) 61–66 63
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 3

As mentioned, to investigate the possible maintenance actions suitable to maintain UAV systems it is necessary to
analyse the mechanical stresses acting during the flight using FEM methods in order to create reliable maintenance
approaches for guaranteeing a safe and available machine.

1.1. Quadcopter frame: dimensions and materials

The frame is an essential component of a quadcopter (and in general of an UAV), and perhaps the most affected
by mechanical stresses generated during taking off, flying and landing [3, 5, 7-10]. The torque generated by the
motor system, landing impacts and other external forces make the frame vital in terms of design and maintenance.
Moreover, the frame must be at the same time as light (to increase the possible payload) and robust (to be able to
face shocks) as possible for facing high vibrations [2, 4].
To analyse stresses and evaluate its performance, the authors chose for one of the most common and used frame
designs according to the retrieved sources. After a short literature investigation [2-16] in order to find possible states
that generate the most mechanical stresses on the quadcopter, as discussed, the analysis has been performed on a
micro UAV; the UAV frame is 183 mm wide and it is symmetric about axis Z (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Geometrical shape (a) and 3D rendering (b) of the UAV.

Two main materials have been used during the mechanical simulations: carbon fiber and Acrylonitrile Butadiene
Styrene (ABS) plus plastic. The mechanical properties of those materials are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1. Mechanical properties of carbon fiber and ABS plus plastic.

Carbon Fiber ABS plus plastic
Young's modulus (GPa) 250 2,5
Ult. Tensile Strength 90° (MPa) 1000 110
Density (g/cm3) 1,60 1,04
Poisson ratio 0,39 0,1

According to [7], the authors decided to choose carbon fiber and ABS plus plastic as materials to use in the
simulation due to their extensive usage in the micro and small UAV market. Indeed, this choice is affected by their
interesting mechanical properties in terms of strength and lightness that make them suitable for being used as body
frame.

2. FEM Simulations

The FEM simulation was carried on using the SolidWorks Simulation Tool and Abacus.
4 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

64 Alberto Martinetti et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 16 (2018) 61–66

2.1. Mesh Definition and flying time moments

The main variables introduced in the creation of the mesh for simulating the states of the quadcopter are
summarised in Table 2

Table 2. Mesh Properties

Property Value Mesh Representation

Mesh type Solid Mesh

Jacobian points 4 points
Max Element Size 0.0112011 m
Min Element Size 0.00224022 m
Total nodes 90553
Total elements 51865
Maximum Aspect Ratio 47,189
with Aspect Ratio > 10 1,26

Quadcopter flying time has been divided in two main moments characterised by different values of mechanical
stress; lifting/hovering and landing on rigid surface. Analysing UAV life cycle, it has been discovered that around
80% of the quadcopter flight time will be in lifting and hovering mode, and around 20% in downward motion for
landing from a defined height. However, after a thorough discussion with UAV manufactures and an exhaustive
literature analysis, it appeared clear that most of the mechanical stresses arise during the landing moments.
Consequently, the focus of the research has been oriented to understand this particular situation.
For both materials (carbon fiber and ABS plus plastic) Von Mises stresses and displacements were tracked
during the simulation in order to find under which conditions the body frame of the micro UAV would have been
heavily stressed.

2.2. Landing simulations

Fig. 4. Simulation results for landing: (a) Von Mises stresses for ABS plus plastic (Max 35 MPa); (b) Von Mises stresses for carbon fiber (Max
38 MPa).
 Alberto Martinetti et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 16 (2018) 61–66 65
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 5

Fig. 5. Simulation results for landing: (a) displacements for ABS plus plastic (Max 3,2 mm); (b) displacements for carbon fiber (Max 6,5
mm).

After the simulations (run both with SolidWorks Simulation Tool and Abacus), it appears clear that the most
vulnerable part of the quadcopter in terms of mechanical forces is the arm, and, specifically, the connection point
between the arm and the body frame.

3. Discussion

Based on FEM results, it is possible to highlight that the highest stresses in landing mode occur, as said, on the
arms near to frame center.
Fig. 4 shows the landing test results and how stresses are expanding after contact with ground. Simulation test
pinpoints that while for ABS plus plastic frame the landing drop from a height of 1 meter (with a velocity value
most likely of 4.43 m/s) on a rigid surface cannot cause cracks, for the carbon fiber, the generated stresses of 38
MPa (beyond the tensile strength of 27 MPa [7]) can bring the material to plastic deformations and cracks. Fig. 5
shows that due to different Young’s modulus the calculated stresses generate possible displacements in the
surrounding of the connection between the arms and the body frame, respectively of 3,2 and 6,5 mm for ABS plus
plastic and carbon fiber.
These considerations lead to agree that there is a consistent difference between usage of carbon fiber and ABS
plus plastic during hard landing events in terms of mechanical strength. Due to its mechanical properties, carbon
fiber is a stronger material with a high Young modulus, which is generating lower elastic strain and fragile behavior
beyond the tensile strength. On the other hand, ABS plus plastic has higher tensile strength, which can reduce
probability of sudden cracks in a collision with rigid surfaces during emergency landing.

According to the presented results, continuous maintenance and special monitoring actions should be taken into
account by micro UAV users and operators for:
 Checking after every landing on rigid surface bolt and connectors between frame and arms (specifically
looking for possible cracks), widely considered as critical to flight functional failure;
 Designing or equipping rubber nozzles or shock absorption devices on the landing gears to reduce stresses
and vibrations from the ground.

4. Conclusions

Using SolidWorks Simulation Tools and Abacus for FEM analysis, an estimation of the mechanical stresses
generated by impacts on simple quadcopter frame has been studied. The analysis was conducted for two types of
materials: carbon fiber and ABS plus plastic. Von Mises stresses on quadcopter arms have been highlighted. Those
stresses represent a critical factor (in relation with tensile strength of ABS plus plastic and carbon fiber 3D printing
material) creating possible plastic deformations and cracks in case of drop landing on rigid surface. The study finally
gave suggestions for correcting checking and maintaining the quadcopter frame.
66 Alberto Martinetti et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 16 (2018) 61–66
6 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

Further researches have to be conducted to move from a simulation contest to a real condition monitoring system
for micro UAVs in order to prove the results obtained with FEM methods. Furthermore, it has to be evaluated the
financial feasibility to equip, at least, micro UAVs deployed in urban non-segregated area with specific monitoring
sensors to avoid functional collapses during flights.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the European Union to make a first exchange mobility actions between a Dutch and an
Armenian University possible, granting the ERASMUS+ project 2016-2-NL01-KA107-034906 to the University of
Twente.

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