Aerodynamic modelling and performance analysis of over-the-wing propellers

Aerodynamic modelling and performance analysis of over-the-wing propellers: A combined numerical and experimental study

Marcus, Pepijn (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering)

de Vries, R. (mentor)
Veldhuis, L.L.M. (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Aerospace Engineering | Flight Performance and Propulsion

2018-04-05

The research objective is to analyze the aerodynamic interaction effects and quantify the performance of over-the-wing propeller systems. To achieve this objective, two wind tunnel experiments have been performed to characterize the most important aerodynamic interaction effects of a single propeller installed over-the-wing. Results feature wing and wake plane pressure distributions and forces on the propeller. Based on the findings, a low-fidelity numerical model is developed. The model couples a panel method for the wing, a blade element method accepting non-uniform inflow for the propeller and a vortex lattice method for the propeller slipstream. The model has a low computational cost and is used to perform sensitivity analyses. Results indicate that the propeller is positioned optimally near the wing trailing edge. The tool is shown to be adequately accurate for the aircraft conceptual design phase, making it invaluable to explore new aircraft configurations.

Propeller
over the wing
aerodynamics
propeller-wing interaction
Performance
numerical analysis
Experimental study
distributed propulsion

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f37f53ef-2419-4d58-8783-3d73c1f7fdb6

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Pepijn Marcus