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Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000
Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000
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Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868
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13th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable, Modern and Safe Transport

13th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable, Modern and Safe Transport
(TRANSCOM 2019), High Tatras, Novy Smokovec – Grand Hotel Bellevue,
(TRANSCOM 2019), High Tatras, Novy Smokovec – Grand Hotel Bellevue,
Slovak Republic, May 29-31, 2019
Slovak Republic, May 29-31, 2019

Introduction
Introduction study
study of
of design
design and
and layout
layout of
of UAVs
UAVs 3D
3D printed
printed wings
wings
in relation to optimal lightweight and load distribution
in relation to optimal lightweight and load distribution
Pavol Pechoaa*,11Viliam Ažaltovičaa, Branislav Kanderaaa, Martin Bugajaa
Pavol Pecho *, Viliam Ažaltovič , Branislav Kandera , Martin Bugaj
a
AirTransport Department, University of Zilina, 010 26, Zilina, Slovakia
a
Air Transport Department, University of Zilina, 010 26, Zilina, Slovakia

Abstract
Abstract
Greater technical advancement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) used in air traffic means their possible use not only for
Greater technical
entertainment andadvancement
leisure. UAVoftechnology
Unmanned inAerial Vehiclesindustry
the military (UAVs)has usedopened
in air up
traffic means
ground their possible
scanning use not
capabilities for only for
various
entertainment and leisure.
purposes. Optimized designUAV
and 3Dtechnology in the military
printing capabilities makeindustry has to
it possible opened
apply up
UAVsground scanning
beyond capabilities
military for various
use, for example, for
purposes.
Search andOptimized
Rescue ordesign
Coastand 3D applications
Guard printing capabilities
that use make it possible
the long to apply
range UAVs. UAVs
The beyond
authors military
compared theuse, for example,
proposed design for
of
Search and Rescue or Coast Guard applications that use the long range UAVs. The authors compared
wings made with 3D printing. Optimized design of wings for the needs of long range UAVs forms the basis for implementation the proposed design of
wings
of UAV made with 3D
systems to printing.
life-savingOptimized design
applications. of wings
Several for thehave
designs needs of long
been range
printed UAVs
during theforms theprocess
design basis forandimplementation
the one that
of UAV systems
achieved the best to life-saving
results based onapplications.
stress test Several
have beendesigns
printed have
out been printed materials
of multiple during the to design
achieveprocess
maximum and strength.
the one Thethat
achieved the best results based on stress test have been printed out of multiple materials to achieve maximum
results of the article show different designs of wings construction, their comparison with loading and selection of the optimal strength. The
results ofthe
layout of thewing
article show
parts different
of the designs of wings construction, their comparison with loading and selection of the optimal
wing structure.
layout of the wing parts of the wing structure.
©
© 2019
2019 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier B.V.
B.V.
© 2019 The
Peer-review Authors.
under Published
responsibilityby Elsevier
of the B.V.
scientific committee of the 13th
13th International Scientific
Scientific Conference on on Sustainable,
Peer-review
Peer-review under
under responsibility
responsibility of
of the scientific
the scientific committee
committee of of the
the 13th International
International Scientific Conference
Conference on Sustainable,
Sustainable,
Modern
Modern and andSafe
SafeTransport
Transport(TRANSCOM
(TRANSCOM 2019).
2019).
Modern and Safe Transport (TRANSCOM 2019).
Keywords: 3D print, UAV, Wing Design, Load Tests, Flight Performance
Keywords: 3D print, UAV, Wing Design, Load Tests, Flight Performance

1
1
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +421918451207.
*E-mail
Corresponding
address: author. Tel.: +421918451207.
pavol.pecho@fpedas.uniza.sk
E-mail address: pavol.pecho@fpedas.uniza.sk
2352-1465 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review©under
2352-1465 2018responsibility
The Authors. of
Published by Elsevier
the scientific B.V.of the 13th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable, Modern and Safe
committee
Peer-review under responsibility
Transport (TRANSCOM 2019). of the scientific committee of the 13th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable, Modern and Safe
Transport (TRANSCOM 2019).

2352-1465  2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 13th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable, Modern and
Safe Transport (TRANSCOM 2019).
10.1016/j.trpro.2019.07.121
862 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868
2 Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

1. Introduction

Throughout the whole history of flying, the producers have been always trying to invent better and stronger
constructions for their planes. All parts of an airplane have to be strong enough to carry heavy loads and especially
the wings. The wings must withstand different loads in all kinds of directions, so the internal structure is key to the
success (Collective of Authors, 2016). Not only the construction or sturdiness are important but also the weight of
the component.
The shapes and structures of the wings may vary, depending on the use. Airplanes which are aimed to reach long
ranges has different internal structures than airplanes designed for search and rescue missions, for instance. The
priorities during the design process may differ. Let us apply an example on already mentioned airplanes. During the
design process of an airplane for long range flights, the key point is weight, on the other hand, during designing an
airplane for search and rescue mission, the stability and speed are important. Each wing construction has its own
pros and cons, and their usage depends on the purpose.
There are many industries where the drones can be found: From delivery drones, through search and rescue ones
which can be used for laser mapping, to military drones (Bobáľ et al., 2017). Every single drone is unique and built
for its own tasks (Fahlstrom and Gleason, 2012). The benefits that drones can offer, are significant. For example,
they can carry equipment or devices which are at normal conditions dangerous for airplanes (Turiak et al., 2014).
The presence of drones in air space may can cause worries, but most of those devices are equipped with their own
collision avoiding system FLARM (Havel et al., 2017).

2. Current status

Since the beginning of aviation, the designs of an airplanes have changed radically. Not only the outer shapes of
an airplanes have changed but also the internal structures, so they can be sturdier and more durable. The full-scale
constructions are much more different, while the main difference is obvious in material. The wings on real airplanes
may consist of various materials, including wood, types of metal or composite materials such as fiberglass or carbon
(Beňo and Bugaj, 2002), whilst the 3D printed wings are made of one material but can be reinforced with the other
one. For instance, the wing made of PLA and reinforced with carbon spar.
Use of 3D printed objects, which are supposed to be used in practice, is still not widespread yet. A lot of
materials, which can be used in 3D printing are still subjects of observation.

Fig. 1. (left) One spar wing; (right) two spar wing

3. Materials and methods

On the market, there are several methods how to 3D print an object out of various types of materials. The most
frequent method is called Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). Nowadays, the FDM is the most popular and most
widespread method to print out 3D objects such as functional prototypes, concept models and manufacturing aids,
mostly because of simplicity of the printing. By using this technology, it’s possible to achieve really fine details and
exceptional strength to weight ratio (“Types of 3D Printers: Complete Guide,” n.d.). The printing process consists of
 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868 863
Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000 3

layering melted material layer by layer on the build platform (Fig. 2(left)). This method was also used for printing
wings for the purposes of this article.
Another possible printing method is stereolithography (SLA). This printing method is used especially during
printing prototypes, mostly because it’s accuracy and precision. Stereolithography printing process consists of
converting liquid photopolymers into solid 3D objects, layer by layer. Hardening of resin is divided into two phases:
In the first phase, the resin is first heated to turn into a semi-liquid form. In the second phase, the resin hardens on
contact. Each layer is constructed by using an ultraviolet laser, which is directed by X and Y scanning mirrors
(“Stereolithography - Create Concept Models, Cosmetic & Prototypes,” n.d.). The whole process of printing runs
upside down (Fig. 2(right)).
a. a light-emitting device
b. tank with resin
c. laser selectively illuminates the transparent bottom
d. solidified resin
e. lifting platform.

Once completed, the printed 3D part needs to be cleaned in chemical bath to remove any excess resin.

Fig. 2. (left) Fused deposition modeling printing scheme; (right) stereolithography printing scheme

Currently, there are approximately 25 types of filaments on the market. Each of them has its own pros and cons
and their usage depends on application. Two most used materials, are PLA (Polylactic Acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile
Butadiene Styrene). Both of these materials are very popular among the users for various reasons.
For this project, the authors have decided to use the most popular out of all filaments, the PLA. There are a few
reasons for this decision, such as most accessible filament on the market, good value and performance ratio, easy to
work with.
In the beginning of the design process, the suitable airfoil was chosen. In this phase of the project, the airfoil is
not that important. The more important is unity of all tested wings. On all wings, NACA2412 airfoil has been used.
The main difference can be found inside of the wings. Every single wing has unique internal structure created by
using different infill patterns in 3D printing program - Cura.
In 3D printing industry, the following types of infills (Figure 3) are used:
• Grid: Strong 2D infill
• Lines: Quick 2D infill
• Triangles: Strong 2D infill
• Tri-hexagon: Strong 2D infill
• Cubic: Strong 3D infill
• Cubic (subdivision): Strong 3D infill (this saves material compared to Cubic)
• Octet: Strong 3D infill
• Quarter cubic: Strong 3D infill
 864 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868
4 Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

• Concentric: Flexible 3D infill

• Concentric 3D : Flexible 3D infill
• Zig-zag: A grid shaped infill, printing continuously in one diagonal direction
• Cross: Flexible 3D infill
• Cross 3D: Flexible 3D infill:

Fig. 3. Basic types of infills used in 3D printed industry (“Ultimaker Cura infill settings,” n.d.)

The "Cubic" pattern has been chosen for the less complicated pattern. The “Concentric” pattern showed 0% of
the interconnection and in the case of the "Cross" and "Cross-3D" patterns, a better Cross-3D pattern link was
clearly visible. Authors selected infiltration types are marked with a red frame. The shape of the "Gyroid" infill is
still a relatively new type of pattern, and its image can be found in Fig. 4, where it is visible already in the wings.
The choice of an infill was based on various factors. Since the “triangles” and “tri-hexagons” are not very
different in practice, the authors have decided to use the “tri-hexagon” because of the density of an infill. The same
applies to “Cubic” and “Quarter-cubic” patterns. The "Cubic" pattern was chosen on the basis of the less
complicated pattern, otherwise the decision was made to connect the pattern to the ward cover where the
"concentric" pattern displayed 0% of the interconnection, and in the case of the cross "Cross" "And" Cross-3D "was
clearly seen to be a larger cross-3D connection. The infiltrated image denotes the selected type of paternity by the
red frame. The shape of the gyroid is a relatively new type of pattern and its image is found in Fig. 4 where it is
visible right in the wings (“Ultimaker Cura infill settings,” n.d.).
All wings were designed for a total weight of 36g along with a support material at the bottom edge. Fig. 4 (left)
shows the individual infill directly in the wings. The weight factor affected the total percentage of the infill. The
following list shows the percentage of infill for each selected patch: Grid - 10%, Tri-hexagon - 10.5%, Cubic - 10%,
Gyroid - 10%, Cross-3D - 9%. All wings samples were printed on the Creality CR-10S printer with the following
print settings - material filament: Verbatim - PLA, black, layer height 0,2mm, printing temperature 211°C, build
plate temperature: 55°C, shell: 0,4mm wall thickness, 1 perimeter, 3 bottom and top layers, speed: infill and wall
speed = 15 mm·s-1. The print time of one sample took in average about 10 hours.
Due to the fact that distribution of an infill in the various cross-sections of the wing is at every point different and
variable, it is not possible to perform a relevant load simulation of wing samples. For this reason, the samples of the
individual infill are verified only by experimental tests and then compared. To verify the properties by simulation,
the classic wing structure with lightening holes (Fig. 5) and a known shape in each point of the wing cross section,
was selected. The simulation in Ansys 19.2 has allowed to compare the simulated model with the real printed wing
and determine the position of the largest bend for the correct positioning of the probe indicator for the experimental
measurement. Simultaneously, the simulation has traced the points with the highest concentration of stress and thus
allowed the optimization of the construction of the wings for the future research.
 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868 865
Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000 5

Based on these findings, experimental flexure verification was performed with the known load on individual
wings. Experimental verification was performed according to the scheme shown in Fig. 6 (left). The wing sample
was placed on two supports Fig. 6 (right) at a distance of 175 mm (parameter L) and through the transfer string the
sample was pulled by force G. The evaluation parameter was the flexure in the center of the wing L / 2 characterized
by the magnitude "y".

Fig. 4. (left) Demonstration of patterns in sample wings - from the left: Grid, Tri-Hexagon, Cubic, Gyroid, Cross-3D; (right) demonstration of an
additional wing with lightening holes and wing with 90° fiber orientation

Fig. 5 Simulation of deformation deflections (directional deformation) in “Y” axis

866 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868
6 Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

Fig. 6. (left) scheme of experimental flexure verification; (right) image of supports

For a better comparison of not only the various infills and patterns, the authors also printed a sample of the
simulated wings (Classic holes wing) that is included in Table 1.
In addition to the shape of the pattern, the direction of the fiber was also taken into account, which is in the case
of tested samples due to accurate and effective print, at an angle of 90 degrees to the direction of the stress
distribution in the material. For this reason, another wing that has 0 degrees has been printed out.

Fig. 7. 90° fiber orientation of “cubic” pattern (left); 0° fiber orientation of “cubic” pattern (right)

4. Results

The parameters and results of quantifiable measurements are shown in Table 1. The graphical representation of
the measurement can be seen in Figure 8, which shows the course of the folds with given loads. Sample loading was
varied in regular 500-gram steps. The measurements began with a loading of each wing with a reference weight of
100 grams, to ensure the relevancy of the results. Based on the simulation of the known wing with lightening holes,
the authors have determined a touch point to measure the deflection at a distance of 60 mm from the trailing edge of
the wing.
Based on the definition that elasticity is the ability of an object or material to resume its normal shape after being
stretched or compressed without distortion, the individual flexures were compared. From the results, it is possible to
define that "Tri-Hexagon" pattern, which is represented in graph by green colour, is the toughest one among the
others. The opposite case represents the "Gyrodid" pattern, which exhibits the highest degree of plastic deformation
under the same load as the other paterns.
 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868 867
Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000 7

Table 1. Table of measured data

Tri- Classic Force

Infill pattern Grid Cubic Gyroid Cross-3D Grid 90°
Hexagon Holes (N)
Flexure (mm)
Measurement 1 0,230 0,160 0,220 0,290 0,200 0,270 0,230 4,905
Measurement 2 0,400 0,340 0,430 0,505 0,425 0,490 0,400 9,81
Measurement 3 0,560 0,505 0,650 0,720 0,640 0,670 0,570 14,715
Measurement 4 0,720 0,675 0,860 0,935 0,870 0,830 0,720 19,62
Measurement 5 0,905 0,840 1,070 1,150 1,075 0,990 0,895 24,525
Measurement 6 1,060 1,000 1,280 1,380 1,290 1,140 1,040 29,43
Measurement 7 1,230 1,160 1,490 1,585 1,480 1,290 1,220 34,335
Measurement 8 1,370 1,320 1,670 1,770 1,690 1,440 1,370 39,24
Measurement 9 1,530 1,440 1,860 1,960 1,875 1,580 1,505 44,145

The opposite case is the "Gyroid" pattern, which exhibits the highest degree of plastic deformation under the
same load compared to the other patterns.
An interesting feature is the comparison of the pattern “Grid” and the “Grid 90°”, whose chart progresses are
almost identical without significant deviations. As a result of this, it could be assumed that the direction of printing
and its effect on the elasticity and stiffness of the wing is negligible but, assuming the force is applied until the
failure of the wing, it is highly probable that the "Grid 90°" will be significantly more resilient to the failure despite
the same chart progress. This fact results from the technique of printing and thus the method of laying the individual
layers, whose contact surfaces create the notches and thus the crack initiation sites.
By including the fact that the most of the wings also have spars in the use of 3D-printed UAVs, the shape and
density of an infill serve in particular to increase the stiffness of the wing structure, while the primary bending load
transmits the built-in spar. The results showed that the most suitable pattern for printed wings is the "tri-hexagon"
pattern. At the same time, experiments have shown that for applications requiring a high degree of elasticity, it is
possible to use the patterns as "Cross-3D" or "Gyroid".

ʹǤͲͲͲ
ͳǤͺͲͲ
ͳǤ͸ͲͲ
Grid 90°
ͳǤͶͲͲ
”‘••Ǧ͵
ͳǤʹͲͲ
Žƒ••‹  ‘Ž‡•
ͳǤͲͲͲ
›”‘‹†
ͲǤͺͲͲ —„‹
ͲǤ͸ͲͲ ”‹Ǧ ‡šƒ‰‘
ͲǤͶͲͲ ”‹†
ͲǤʹͲͲ
ͲǤͲͲͲ
Ǧͷ ͷ ͳͷ ʹͷ ͵ͷ Ͷͷ

Figure 8. Chart progresses of individual wing samples

868 Pavol Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019) 861–868
8 Pecho et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

Conclusion

The article highlights the strength of the structural units printed on the 3D printer considering their overall
strength towards weight and resistance to plastic deformation. By optimal weight / strength ratio, it is possible to
increase the overall performance of the printed parts and, in the case of this article, the wing for unmanned flying
means. During the study, the authors tried to take into account the factors of the shape of the wing panels, which are
non-spar construction. Due to the absence of parameters such as the cross-sectional modulus of elasticity or the
overall inhomogeneity of the print, the samples of the wing were verified only by the experimental measurement and
they were comparatively compared.
The results of the measurements show that the "Tri-Hexagon" pattern has a most durable design and the "Gyroid"
pattern, on the other hand the most flexible. Based on this knowledge, it is possible to integrate and use the
individual patterns in practice that requires the given pattern parameters.
The article provides basic data but also serves as a stepping-stone for further research of strength optimization of
3D printed parts, and comparing other criteria such as total stress during deformation or defining flexural modulus.
For the sophistication of 3D printing, it is possible, in addition to shape changes, to change the print parameter to
open a number of variable factors whose optimization allows the creation of high-strength components. The ratio of
the strength and weight of the current 3D prints leads to the competitiveness of 3D industry against composite
materials and, in some cases, light metal alloys.

Acknowledgements

The article was created with the support of the science and research development of the foundation “Nadácia
Tatra banky”, Faculty of Mechanical engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Air Transport Department at
University of Zilina. This paper is an output of the project KEGA No. 011ŽU-4/2018 "New technologies and best
practices in education in the Air Transport and Professional Pilots"

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