Projects

Bijuli – Powerline Inspection Fixed Wing Battery Powered UAV

• Designed 2.8 m span, 8 kg MTOW fixed-wing UAV using XFLR5/X-Plane to meet 50–60 km inspection range at 18 m/s cruise while maintaining positive static margin for stable autonomous flight
• Achieved low stall speed (~3.23 m/s) and short-field performance (21.9 m takeoff, 43.4 m landing) through high aspect ratio wing (AR=10) and lift-to-drag optimization
• Performed trim, neutral point, climb/descent, and Cooper-Harper handling analysis to validate longitudinal stability, endurance efficiency, and safe low-speed operation in mountainous terrain

Fabrication of Particle Image Velocimetry Setup at Low Reynolds Number

• Designed and fabricated a 40+ component modular PIV system (CATIA, structural FEA) for a 2 m towing tank, maintaining <5% blockage ratio and achieving a safety factor ≈15 under hydrostatic loading, enabling reliable low-Re aerodynamic testing.
• Developed MATLAB-based PIV processing pipeline (FFT cross-correlation, CLAHE, vector validation) to reconstruct velocity and vorticity fields at Re = 2,000–10,000, achieving ±2% velocity measurement uncertainty and resolving laminar separation bubbles and vortex shedding.
• Validated experimental results against ANSYS Fluent simulations, demonstrating strong agreement in separation location and velocity trends while systematically quantifying uncertainty sources (illumination, sedimentation, optical distortion).

Thermal Vacuum Chamber Design

• Engineered 900 mm diameter stainless steel thermal vacuum chamber for CubeSat qualification, performing external pressure vessel sizing per ASME Section VIII and optimizing shell thickness to 2 mm for structural efficiency
• Led structural validation in ANSYS Mechanical, comparing head geometries and selecting a tori-spherical design with 143.98 MPa peak stress and <0.6 mm deformation under full atmospheric loading
• Designed and integrated 1.4 kW closed-loop heating system with LN2-based cryoshroud cooling; validated thermal performance via steady-state simulation to achieve controlled satellite surface temperatures up to 46°C under vacuum

Axial Flow Compressor Design

• Designed single-stage axial compressor for 8.2 kg/s mass flow and 1.2 target pressure ratio using Python-based mean-line solver and free vortex modeling; defined blade angles, reaction, and rotor speed (~11,464 rpm) from first principles
• Generated full 3D rotor–stator blade geometry in CATIA (NACA 65-series) and created 496k-node structured O–H mesh in ANSYS TurboGrid; conducted mesh independence validation with y+ ≈ 20
• Executed steady RANS and transient URANS simulations in ANSYS CFX (SST k–ω), achieving 1.12 pressure ratio and ~78% isentropic efficiency while analyzing rotor–stator interaction and secondary flow losses

Lift & Drag Data Acquisition

• Designed and integrated strain-gauge load cell instrumentation with NI SCB-68 and LabVIEW DAQ system, sampling at 1000 Hz and implementing bias correction for real-time lift measurement in wind tunnel testing
• Performed five-point calibration (R² = 0.9263) to derive force–voltage relationship and ensure reliable lift coefficient computation across −4° to 15° angle of attack
• Validated experimental results against ANSYS Fluent simulations (k–ε model), achieving comparable stall prediction (12°–15° experimental vs 14° CFD) and identifying noise, mounting, and turbulence intensity as primary error sources

Aircraft Exhaust Stack Trolley

• Developed and evaluated three structural concepts in CATIA for aircraft exhaust stack storage, reducing mass from 108 kg (Option A) to optimized 54.5 kg final design while meeting <60 kg requirement
• Performed structural FEA and analytical member force calculations to validate welded steel frame under static loading; confirmed stresses below yield and negligible deflection under service conditions
• Conducted stability and transport analysis (CG, rolling friction, incline testing), demonstrating 55° tip-over resistance and mobility on 12° incline with 120 N push force; completed BoQ with total cost ≈ Rs. 15,840

Quadcopter Design & Fabrication

We constructed a quadcopter using an Arduino Uno microcontroller and off-the-shelf components for demonstration at MechTRIX-X. We implemented PID control algorithms for roll and pitch stabilization and systematically tuned the control parameters to achieve a stable hover. The quadcopter was successfully demonstrated at MechTRIX-X, showcasing the integration of embedded programming, control theory, and mechanical design principles.