| As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fill a wider and wider variety of civic, scientific, and military roles-analysts predict that the UAV market will be the most dynamic growth sector of the decade in terms of the world aerospace industry. As a result, UAV research and development will contribute to a major portion of spending in the next decades-with a significant emphasis on propulsion technologies.This book will cover several UAV propulsion technologies, ranging from modification of conservative designs to assessing the potential of unconventional arrangements. Each chapter provides a glimpse of how researchers are leveraging different fuel types, powerplants, and system architectures in the pursuit of powerful, efficient, and robust UAV propulsion. By developing higher-performing propulsion systems-whether through the refinement of existing technologies like two-stroke heavy-fuel engines and hybrid-electric arrangements or the investigation of new concepts such as dielectric barrier discharge-engineers will be able to increase UAV capabilities for the world's developing aviation needs. |
