Design and Performance Evaluation of Air Induction (AI) Nozzles to Reduce Drift Potential for Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Purpose This study aims to develop a low-drift air induction (AI) nozzle that meets the requirements of agricultural control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). An AI nozzle was designed and manufactured to satisfy the design goals. The performance of the developed AI nozzle was quantitatively evaluated in terms of injection flow rate, air-to-liquid ratio (ALR), spray angle, and droplet size. Methods The average value of the injection flow rate and the variation over time were measured using a gear-type positive displacement precision flow meter. The spray structure and spray angle were obtained at very high temporal resolution using the single image acquisition function of a two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) system. The droplet size of the spray was measured using a laser diffraction technique. Results The injection flow rate of the AI nozzle changes with the pressure recovery characteristics inside the nozzle mixing chamber and affects the dynamic stability of the AI nozzle. The spray angle of the AI nozzle with a flat-fan nozzle tip increases linearly with the injection pressure, and if there is additional consideration for the two-phase flow effect, the prediction equation for the single-phase flow can be applied to estimate the spray angle. The generation of air bubble-containing droplets in AI nozzles is formed by large-diameter ligament disintegration caused by a rolled-up liquid sheet and is larger than that of single-phase flow nozzles. The droplet size (Dv0.5) of the developed AI nozzle was 384 μm, which was smaller than that of a similar commercial AI nozzle. Conclusions AI nozzle design, manufacturing and performance evaluation technology that satisfies the requirements of agricultural control UAVs, was established through this study.