AIRFOIL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DESIGN OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER PROPELLERS

Authors

  • Umunna J Reuben Space Dynamic Laboratory, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
  • Koju Hiraki Space Dynamic Laboratory, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
  • Miyamoto Shohei Space Dynamic Laboratory, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v6.i9.2018.1250

Keywords:

Propeller Design, Low-Reynolds Number, Airfoil Data, Xrotor

Abstract [English]

A propeller was designed using 2D airfoil data obtained from a panel method numeric code. The propeller was designed to operate at 75% chord based Reynolds number of 20k. At low Reynolds numbers <40k, there are no publicly available 2D airfoil force data largely because of inherent difficulty in their measurement. Theoretical prediction of the propeller’s peak efficiency was 0.67 while experiment results was 0.58. To improve the propeller efficiency by using better performing airfoils, six (6) airfoils of varying thickness and camber were studied. Three of the six airfoils were chosen and used in the design of three propellers - a single airfoil for each propeller design. The propellers were designed to operate at Reynolds number of 30k at 0.75 radius and the 2D airfoil force data used for the designs were obtained from a numeric code. Theoretical predictions of efficiency were all > 81% in each of the designed propellers.

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References

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Published

2018-09-30

How to Cite

Reuben, U. J., Hiraki, K., & Shohei, M. (2018). AIRFOIL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DESIGN OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER PROPELLERS. International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH, 6(9), 373–384. https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v6.i9.2018.1250