Analysis of Aerodynamic Characteristics using the Vortex Lattice Method on Twin Tail Boom Unmanned Aircraft

This study focuses on analysis the aerodynamic characteristics of the LSU 05-NG aircraft in a relatively shorter time with sufficient results to provide an overview of aircraft characteristics. The method used is the Vortex Lattice Method (VLM) on XFLR5 software. VLM models an aircraft surface into infinite number of vortices to calculate lift curve slope, induced drag and force distribution. In this study, VLM was used to calculate aerodynamic parameters which include CL, CD, CM, CL with respect to CD, and L/D. The results showed that VLM can provide good results for the prediction of the lift coefficient. As for the drag coefficient, VLM used the assumption that fluid flow is inviscid so only induced drag is calculated. This also impacted the results of L/D analysis using VLM. Simulation results for the value of L/D results showed that the VLM simulation on XFLR5 has a higher magnitude than the results of the simulation with CFX.