Industrial Heavy-Lift Hexacopter Chassis Assembly

Project: Industrial Heavy-Lift Hexacopter Chassis Platform Category: Aerospace Engineering / UAV Design Software: SolidWorks 2024, SolidWorks Simulation Files: IGES, STEP, SolidWorks Assembly (.SLDASM), PDF drawings OBJECTIVE: Design a structurally verified, weight-optimised airframe chassis for an industrial hexacopter targeting 25 kg MTOW and 10 kg payload capacity for agricultural and infrastructure inspection missions. CONSTRAINTS: → Max airframe dry weight: 4.2 kg → Motor-to-motor diagonal span: 1,400 mm → Material: 6061-T6 aluminium (prototype) | Carbon-fiber prepreg (production) → Min safety factor: 1.5× under rated payload + 2g manoeuvre load ENGINEERING APPROACH: Top-down parametric SolidWorks assembly. All arm sockets, central plate, and motor mount interfaces as a unified parametric family. Arm cross-section topology iterated 3 times to achieve minimum mass at required safety factor. FEA under combined vertical and lateral load cases. RESULTS: → Final chassis mass: 3.87 kg (8% under budget) → Min safety factor: 1.78× at arm-to-socket junction → Max deformation under full payload: 2.1 mm at motor mount tip → Approved for CNC aluminium prototype fabrication