THRUST CALCULATIONS ECALC BY MCCORMICK METHODS

Equations

Power-Thrust Calculations
SETUP
W = 11.3891 [lbf ] All-up weight of UAV

Nmotor = 4 Number of motors/propellers

n = 0.85 Average efficiency of motors

RP M = 7000 Estimated setup RPM

BATTERY
V = 25 Selected motor voltage in volts

NBatt = 2 Number of batteries in parallel

C = 4000 Battery cell capacity in mAh

PROPELLER
D = 14 [in] Propeller diameter in inches

P itch = 4.7 [in] Propeller pitch in inches

A = 0.25 · π · D2 Propeller sweep area in square inches

ft2 
 

Af t = A · 0.006944444 2  Propeller sweep area in square feet

in

FULL THROTTLE
Pin · n
PL = Power loading equation
Af t

T L = 8.6859 · P L−0.3107 · 1 [lbf/hp] Thrust loading equation

Lif t = T L · (Pin · n) Lift per Motor

Lif tT otal = Lif t · Nmotor Total lift of the UAV

 
 W 
PinW att = Pin · 745.7 Power input to motor in Watts
hp 

Lif tT otal = 2 · W Common Thrust-to-Weight Ratioto generate needed lift

Itot = Imotor · Nmotor Total UAV current

Imotor = PinW att /V Current of motor

PinW att = PoutW att /n Power relation involving motor efficiency

1
KV req = RP M /V Required KV of motor

N omKV req = KV req /n Nominal KV (labeled) of motorwhich accounts for efficiency

ESC req = Imotor · 1.2 Required ESC current for motor

HOVER
PHin · n
P LH = Power loading equation for hover
Af t

T LH = 8.6859 · P L−0.3107
H · 1 [lbf/hp] Thrust loading equation for hover

Lif tH = T LH · (PHin · n) Lift per motor at hover

Lif tHT otal = Lif tH · Nmotor Total lift of the UAV at hover
 
 W 
PHinW att = PHin · 745.7 Power input to motor at hover in Watts
hp 

Lif tHT otal = 1 · W

IHtot = IHmotor · Nmotor Total hover UAV current

IHmotor = PHinW att /V Current of motor at hover

PHinW att = PHoutW att /n Power relation involving motor efficiency

ENDURANCE
60 · (C/1000) · NBatt
thover =
IHtot

Hover endurance time based on the battery

capacity and motor current with margin of error
60 · (C/1000) · NBatt
tf ullthrottle =
Itot

Full throttle endurance time based on the battery capacity and motor current
with margin of error
thover + tf ullthrottle
taverage = Average endurance time
2

Solution
   
A = 153.9 in2 Af t = 1.069 ft2
C = 4000 [mAh] D = 14 [in]
ESC req = 22.15 [A] IHmotor = 6.752 [A]
IHtot = 27.01 [A] Imotor = 18.46 [A]
Itot = 73.82 [A] KV req = 280 [rpm/V]
Lif t = 5.695 [lbf] Lif tH = 2.847 [lbf]
Lif tHT otal = 11.39 [lbf] Lif tT otal = 22.78 [lbf]
n = 0.85 N omKV req = 329.4 [rpm/V]
NBatt = 2 Nmotor = 4  
P itch = 4.7 [in] P L = 0.492 hp/ft2

2
  
P LH = 0.18 hp/ft2
PHinW att = 168.8 [W]
Pin = 0.6187 [hp]
PoutW att = 392.2 [W]
T L = 10.83 [lbf/hp]
taverage = 12.14 [min]
thover = 17.77 [min]
W = 11.39 [lbf ]
PHin = 0.2264 [hp]
PHoutW att = 143.5 [W]
PinW att = 461.4 [W]
RP M = 7000 [rpm]
T LH = 14.8 [lbf/hp]
tf ullthrottle = 6.502 [min]
V = 25 [V]

Parametric Table: T able 1

Run Nmotor D PW att

[in] [W]
1 4 8 764.1
2 4 8.5 723.5
3 4 9 687.2
4 4 9.5 654.5
5 4 10 624.9
6 4 10.5 598
7 4 11 573.5
8 4 11.5 550.9
9 4 12 530.2
10 4 12.5 511
11 4 13 493.3
12 4 13.5 476.8
13 4 14 461.4
14 4 14.5 447
15 4 15 433.6
16 4 15.5 420.9
17 4 16 409.1
18 4 16.5 397.9
19 8 8 279.5
20 8 8.5 264.7
21 8 9 251.4
22 8 9.5 239.4
23 8 10 228.6
24 8 10.5 218.8
25 8 11 209.8
26 8 11.5 201.5
27 8 12 194
28 8 12.5 187
29 8 13 180.5
30 8 13.5 174.4
31 8 14 168.8
32 8 14.5 163.5
33 8 15 158.6
34 8 15.5 154
35 8 16 149.7
36 8 16.5 145.6

Parametric Table: T able 2

Run Lif tT otal PinW att

3
 [lbf] [W]
1 2 13.53
2 3.5 30.48
3 5 51.13
4 6.5 74.82
5 8 101.1
6 9.5 129.7
7 11 160.5
8 12.5 193.2
9 14 227.7
10 15.5 264
11 17 301.8
12 18.5 341.2
13 20 382.1
14 21.5 424.3
15 23 467.9
16 24.5 512.8
17 26 559
18 27.5 606.4
19 29 655
20 30.5 704.7
21 32 755.5
22 33.5 807.5
23 35 860.4

Plot Window 1: P lot 1