Influence analysis of propeller location parameters on wings using a panel/viscous vortex particle hybrid method

Wang, H.B.; Zhou, Zhiyong; Xu, Xiao; Zhu, Xiaoping

doi:10.1017/aer.2017.109

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…VPM has been successfully applied to a variety of wake-dominated flow, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] especially the cases of coaxial rotors 17,18 and rotorcraft forward flight. [19][20][21][22][23] However, it has not yet been applied to the coplanar multirotor configuration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Vortex Particle Code for the Modeling of Wake Interaction in Distributed Propulsion

Alvarez

Ning

2018

2018 Applied Aerodynamics Conference

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Recent developments in electric aircraft technology have enabled the use of distributed propulsion for the next generation of vertical lift vehicles. However, the ability to rapidly assess the performance of these design concepts, with sufficient fidelity, is a current weakness of this nascent industry. This paper explores the capacity of the viscous Vortex Particle Method (VPM) to model wake interactions found in distributed propulsion. The elements of the vortex particle method are summarized, and a new approach for the calculation of vortex stretching through the complex-step derivative approximation is presented. Preliminary validation is performed on vortex ring cases resembling the fundamental dynamics encountered in propeller wakes. Unsteady wake dynamics of individual propellers are successfully modeled, replicating the instabilities that lead to vortex breakdown as observed experimentally. Comparing the method with results from momentum theory, it is shown that VPM is consistent with theoretical values of near and far field induced velocities, and a notable feature is its ability to model near/far field transition. Furthermore, VPM is able to fully characterize induced velocities across the entire wake, from the stable region where momentum theory operates, through instability transition and eventual vortex breakdown. The simulation of a multirotor configuration of two tip-to-tip propellers is shown, displaying the capacity of VPM to model wake mixing. The results presented here are intermediate steps in the development of a mid-fidelity modeling tool for the early design stages of distributed-propulsion electric aircraft.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Vortex Particle Code for the Modeling of Wake Interaction in Distributed Propulsion

Alvarez

Ning

2018

2018 Applied Aerodynamics Conference

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“…For the purpose of utilizing the suction effect ahead of the propeller, it is better that the propeller is placed above the wing, which is called over-the-wing (OTW) propeller configuration [25][26][27]. The experimental result demonstrates that the OTW configuration has an excellent advantage of reducing the wing drag through the propeller blade suction compared with a tractor propeller arrangement, while its lift enhancing capability is slightly weaker than the latter.…”

Section: Fuel Saving Double Channel Wing Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Investigation of the Aerodynamic Performance for a Fuel Saving Double Channel Wing Configuration

Wang

Gan

2019

Energies

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This paper presents a fuel saving double channel wing (FADCW) configuration for a propeller driven aircraft to reduce fuel consumption. In pursuit of this objective, FADCW configuration combines the tractor propeller layout and over-the-wing propeller layout. The basic idea is to improve the wing lift-to-drag ratio by taking advantage of the beneficial propeller influence on the wing. Based on a multi reference frame method solving Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations, the contrastive study of this configuration and a traditional tractor propeller-wing layout is conducted. It is shown that the propeller slipstream in the tractor propeller configuration leads to a 10.28% reduction in the wing lift-to-drag ratio. With the same reference wing area and the propeller rotation speed; however, the FADCW configuration can reduce the wing drag by 10.41% and increase its lift-to-drag ratio by 13.29%, which results in a 20.15% reduction in the fuel consumption compared with the traditional tractor propeller configuration. Makino and Nagai [5] revealed that the propeller slipstream can delay or eliminate the separation bubble on the wing surface and thereby increase the wing lift in a flow of low Reynolds number. A numerical simulation on the DEP aircraft conducted by Stoll et al. [6] indicated that distributed propeller slipstreams can augment the maximum lift coefficient of the wing to 5.2. Regarding the drag of a wing for a propeller driven aircraft, Kroo's analyses [7] showed that the propeller-wing interaction can reduce the wing drag obviously. However, Fratello et al. Experimental measurements tested by[8] drew a contrary conclusion. Their experiment revealed that the wing drag with the propeller influence is five times larger than that of a clean wing. Through the wind tunnel test, Ma et al. [9] also found that the propeller increases the wing drag and decreases its lift-to-drag ratio considerably. Miranda and Brennan [10] studied a wingtip mounted propeller configuration using a vorticity model and they suggested that whether the propeller-wing interaction is beneficial will strongly depend on the propeller rotation direction and installation position. Therefore, the aerodynamic behavior of the wing, especially the variation of the drag, is very sensitive to the influence of the propeller slipstream; more attention should be paid to employing the favorable influence of the propeller on the wing and avoiding its disadvantageous impact as much as possible.In view of the important influence of the propeller on the wing, some authors [11][12][13] have made airfoil and wing shape optimizations considering the propeller interference to promote the aerodynamic performance of the wing and acquired many good results. However, these works mainly focused on the tractor propeller configurations, where only the influence of the slipstream behind the propeller disk was investigated; the potential favorable effects upstream of the propeller blade on the wing are rarely considered.The goal of the present work is to improve th...

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“…Numerical studies using the vortex panel-particle hybrid method have also been used to analyze the influence of propeller slipstream on a wing [13]. A numerical study on the performance of tip-mounted propellers using a one-equation RANS model showed that the use of the actuator disk model for studying the slipstream-wing interaction reduces the computational cost by 85% [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Unsteady Reynolds–Averaged Navier–Stokes–Large Eddy Simulation Study of Propeller–Airframe Interaction in Distributed Electric Propulsion

Walvekar,

Chakravarthy

2023

Aerospace

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A conceptual framework is presented to determine the improvement in the aerodynamic performance of a canard aircraft fitted with distributed propellers along its main wing. A preliminary study is described with four airframe–propeller configurations predominantly studied in academic and commercial designs. The leading edge–based tractors and trailing edge–based pushers are identified as configurations of interest for the main study. Subsequently, a Navier–Stokes solver is used to simulate the flow using two numerical approaches–a modified steady-state actuator disk and an unsteady rotating propeller profile. Moving meshes with rotating sub-domains are used with a hybrid RANS-LES-based turbulence model while the actuator disks are modified to include viscous swirl effects. The preliminary study shows a local minimum in the change in CL and CD at 10∘ for the pusher and tractor configurations. The main study then demonstrates the outperformance of the pushers over tractors quantified using CL and CL/CD. There is a clear preference for the pushers as they increase the lifting capacity of the aircraft without disproportionately increasing the drag due to the flow smoothening by the suction of the pusher propellers over the main wing. The pushers also delay the separation of the boundary layer whereas the tractors are unable to prevent the formation of the separation bubble despite injecting momentum through their slipstreams into the flow. The results from the two numerical approaches are then compared for accuracy in designing DEP configurations for an airframe.

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Influence analysis of propeller location parameters on wings using a panel/viscous vortex particle hybrid method

Cited by 13 publications

References 28 publications

Development of a Vortex Particle Code for the Modeling of Wake Interaction in Distributed Propulsion

Development of a Vortex Particle Code for the Modeling of Wake Interaction in Distributed Propulsion

An Investigation of the Aerodynamic Performance for a Fuel Saving Double Channel Wing Configuration

An Unsteady Reynolds–Averaged Navier–Stokes–Large Eddy Simulation Study of Propeller–Airframe Interaction in Distributed Electric Propulsion

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