Metallurgy, Vol. 65 No. 2, 2026.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.64486/m.65.2.7
Experimental Characterization of Materials for Structural Airframe Elements of a Multirotor UAV
Petar Piljek
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Ivana Lucica 1 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
*
Denis Kotarski
; Karlovac University of Applied Sciences, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Trg J. J. Strossmayera 9, 47000 Karlovac
Zdenka Keran
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Ivana Lucica 1 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Matija Krznar
orcid.org/0000-0003-0990-0497
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Ivana Lucica 1 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This work presents a cost-efficient experimental framework for characterizing structural materials used in rotor arms of multirotor UAVs. A set of specimens, in-cluding FDM-printed PLA and PETG with varying wall thicknesses and infill percentages, and CFF-printed Onyx reinforced with fiberglass, was evaluated against a commercially established reference (S500). Static deflection tests revealed that increasing the wall number and infill in PETG specimens reduces deflection at the expense of mass, with the selected PETG design achieving ~30 % lower de-flection and ~20 % lower mass than the commercial airframe. CFF specimens showed superior stiffness but were considerably more expensive and required sig-nificantly longer production times. The study demonstrates that low-cost experimental testing provides useful mechanical data, supporting the design of lighter, structurally efficient rotor arms.
Keywords
multirotor UAV; rotor arm; additive manufacturing, experimental characterization
Hrčak ID:
343671
URI
Publication date:
1.4.2026.
Visits: 352 *