3D Printed Planes

This is still just the beginning...

P-40 Warhawk, started 11-4-17 (with Tinkercad)

This was when I had no idea what I was doing, and was just designing an RC airplane based on looks. Unsurprisingly, at over 2kg and only with a small motor, the airplane never got off the ground.

Nevertheless, I still learned about the basics of aviation:

never have a tail-heavy aircraft
having enough thrust is just as important as saving weight
3D printed material is really heavy but strong, so it is better to print thin walls

SE 5, started 4-18-18 (with Tinkercad)

Armed with my newfound knowledge, I designed an easier airplane, so that I can make the airplane lighter. The results were promising- the wings were holding up, and the airplane was still light.

The airplane actually took off, and flew for a solid two seconds... before hitting the ground and splintering in a million pieces.

I forgot about the most crucial factor in determining whether an airplane will either fly, or fly once: center of gravity. The airplane was severely tail heavy, and there was no way for me to change that without drastically increasing the weight of the airplane. In my later airplane projects, I will transition to Fusion 360 in order to computationally generate the center of gravity.

F7F Tigercat, started 5-26-18 (with both Tinkercad and Fusion 360)

My focus on this design was resolving the center of gravity issue, as well as thrust. The design of the F7F means that the wing is closer to the center of the fuselage, making it easier to control where the CG of the aircraft is.

I designed the fuselage in Fusion 360, but everything else was designed in Tinkercad, as I was still getting used to the new design software. This means that the wing, the most important structural part, was designed in Tinkercad, meaning that there was going to be some design flaws. After the airplane finished printing, I noticed that the wing was really weak- the layers were splitting apart, and there was no way that the airplane would sustain more than 2g's of force.

The airplane never came to fly, as I knew that the wings would snap right off.

RC trainer, started 8-19-19 (with Fusion 360)

My first RC airplane entirely designed in Fusion 360. There was a large gap between my F7F and this airplane, as I was tinkering around with the tools in Fusion 360, and I even was able to use Finite Element Analysis to simulate the wing stress.

I had most of the airplane printed, so I decided to do a glide test, which was a big mistake- I threw it maybe 2 feet off the ground, and the wing snapped in half.

Looking back on the overall design, I really should have made the wing both longer (chord-wise) and thicker, as the wing wasn't supported by much. In addition, my choice of the tail design was probably not the best, as it was going to be 3D printed.

I still haven't unlocked the full potential of Fusion 360, and I will do so over the next 2-3 years through my research projects in aviation.

RESEARCH: from 2019-2021

2019-2020: "Applying Finite Element Analysis to Manually Optimize 3D Printed Wings"

Abstract: Deviation from internal design of traditional 3D printed aircraft wings will improve strength and weight characteristics by implementing and optimizing curved wall placement. Curved wall and tapering skin thicknesses will be designed in accordance to stress concentrations along a wing. While stress differences between curved wall designs were negligible, they were significantly better than the traditionally designed wing. By applying the curved wall design to 3D printed wings, increased strength will be achieved.

2020-2021: "Design and Optimization Process of a 3D Printed Tandem Aircraft"

Abstract: A tandem aircraft was designed with 3D printing in mind to demonstrate the aerodynamic and structural benefits of such an aircraft. The elimination of downwash, which decreases lift, and iterative internal wing design will result in favorable flight characteristics. The aerodynamics of the aircraft were enhanced by altering the aircraft’s wing placement to minimize downwash. Structural optimization was applied to the aircraft’s wings by implementing different curved wall designs, which resulted in the wing having an improved strength-to-weight ratio.

2021-2022: "Compliant and Aerodynamic Characteristics of a 3D Printed Variable Camber Aircraft Wing"

Abstract: A 3D printed aircraft wing was designed so that the camber of the wing can be altered to achieve different aerodynamic characteristics. Finite Element Analysis was used to simulate stress on aircraft, in order to test the compliance of the 3D printed wing. Computational Fluid Dynamics was used to simulate airflow over the wing at various levels of camber and angle of attack, and aerodynamic data was obtained to determine the optimal wing configuration at different flights situations, such as takeoff, landing, and cruising.

Wing with curved wall internal structure.

The completed tandem aircraft.

The compliance of the variable camber wing depending on the cambering force applied.

Where I am right now: A return to the P-40 design, started (9-13-21)

Currently my most complicated 3D design overall on Fusion 360, as I have to design the internal structure for both the fuselage and wing (remember the research?). This is comparable to confronting the final boss- I will have to put all my design skills to the test to conquer this airplane.

I wanted to return to this aircraft design not only to show the progress I have made in design skills, but to also make it fitting if I end up finally succeeding- to finish where I started off. I will update once I complete this project!

[scroll down further to see more recent updates]

[I added a separate subpage to this page for the completed design!]