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Each blade is a complete wing unto itself, with a tip vortex from each end, hub and tip
Hub vortices are additive
Propeller Design Methods
History
The development of propeller design methods has mirrored the technologies of the day 19th c.: Scientific method still in infancy
Helmholtz Theory of Vorticity
Foundation of Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics
Froude s and Rankine s Actuator Disc Theory Drzwiecki s Blade Element theory Wright Bros. first to combine them
Predicted and achieved remarkable ~66% efficiency
Propeller Design Methods
History
Early 20th c.: Experiment and Analysis
Scientific method flourished in experiment
Eiffel wind tunnel investigation of wings and airfoils Lesley & Durand tests of model propellers
See the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It
Prandtl et. al Gottingen tunnel: wings and airfoils Weick et. al Langley propeller tunnel
Tests of full-scale propellers
History
Early 20th c.: Experiment and Analysis
Analysis flourished in academia and research institutes
Lanchester: Concepts of vortex flow and circulation Prandtl: Quantified Lanchester s description
Gave us the concepts of downwash and induced drag
Goldstein: Exact solution of Betz propeller distribution Glauert: Comprehensive reformulation and consolidation Theodorsen: Extended Goldstein s solution, reformulated Glauert
History
The rest of the 20th century .
Airplane propeller theory all but stopped in 1948 A smattering of papers on Theodorsens s Theory Larrabee s wonderful works (Glauert re-hashed) Some stuff on hub effects and ducted fans
History
The rest of the 20th century .
Marine propeller theory did not stop in 1948 1952, Lerbs: Non-uniform radial inflow velocity
Larrabee s similar-appearing radially-graded momentum theory is like Lerbs theory in the same way a Yugo was like a real car
1955, Theodorsen was a no-show 1961, Kerwin: Vortex-lattice lifting-line solution But marine engineers have formulated the solution to the optimization problem incorrectly
Propeller Design Methods
Desired Output
Full-size template at each 'X radius station of:
Pressure-side ( thrust face ) including datum Suction-side ( camber face ) including datum Profiles modified to account for thickness of subsequent laminations (glass, carbon, etc.) X could be linear inches or percent radius
CAD files to send to the jobber ? G-codes to go directly to the milling machine
Propeller Design Methods
2. Spreadsheets
I haven t been able to get Excel to do native iteration Neither have I been able to get it to integrate or interpolate using splines or other nonlinear interpolation schemes That s why I haven t used my cell phone (Excel) Spreadsheets can be useful for some preliminary work, but I find them ungainly
Propeller Design Methods
3. Helical pitch
Better to use NACA TN-212, available as: Design and Build Your Own Propeller by Fred Weick, Sport Aviation, December 1960 If you re an EAA member it is free to download from the magazine archive
3. Helical pitch
4. Graphical Layout
6. Analytic Methods
Archaic; obsolete
8. Ellippse Propellers
15 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
-5
-10
8. Ellippse Propellers
Arbitrarily forces an elliptical lift distribution from tip-to-tip (across the hub) without regard for the reversal of circulation across the hub Arbitrarily imposes an elliptical distribution vs. solving for the shape of the distribution curve as a function of the Betz condition Ignores the fundamental importance and the overarching achievement of Goldstein s work
Propeller Design Methods
9. Carter Propellers
Apparently designed using the idea that the aft-ward acceleration of air should be constant along the blade, vs. Betz condition of aft-ward velocity being constant Static thrust measurement is not adequate to predict in-flight performance