Designing a Fixed-Wing 3D Printed Aircraft

Abstract

A 3D Printed Aircraft Competition hosted at the University of Texas Arlington challenges students to design an aircraft while employing the advantages and considering the constraints of 3D printing. This allows students to explore the capabilities of 3D printing in prototyping and fabrication uses as an alternative or supplement manufacturing method. This report presents a review of research in the field of aircraft design, an analysis of conceptual designs, and features the designs for a 3D printed fixed-wing aircraft. The objective of the project discussed in this report is to design and construct a 3D printed fixed-wing aircraft to compete in the 6th annual 3D Printed Aircraft Competition hosted at the University of Texas Arlington. With the goal of designing an aircraft for maximum flight time, numerous design tradeoffs were considered. Similar designs from engineering teams that competed in past competitions were reviewed and learned from. The aircraft design was largely constrained by the capabilities of 3D printing and by the competition requirements. After designing the aircraft, a working prototype that met the requirements of the competition was constructed. The aircraft was operated in test flights, and each design was improved upon for the next iteration.