In this research effect of propeller induced flow on aerodynamic characteristics of low aspect ratio flying wing micro aerial vehicle has been investigated experimentally in subsonic wind tunnel. Left turning tendencies of right-handed propellers have been discussed in literature, but not much work has been done to quantify them. In this research, we have quantified these tendencies as a change in aerodynamic coefficient with a change in advance ratio at a longitudinal trim angle of attack using subsonic wind tunnel. For experimental testing, three fixed pitch propeller diameters (5 inch, 6 inch and 7 inch), three propeller rotational speeds (7800, 10800 and 12300 RPMs) and three wind tunnel speeds (10, 15 and 20 m/s) have been considered to form up 27 advance ratios. Additionally, wind tunnel tests of 9 wind mill cases were conducted and considered as baseline. Experimental uncertainty assessment for measurement of forces and moments was carried out before conduct of wind tunnel tests. Large variation in lift, drag, yawing moment and rolling moment was captured at low advance ratios, which indicated their significance at high propeller rotational speeds and large propeller diameters. Side force and pitching moment did not reflect any significant change. $\frac {L}{D}$ at trim point was found a nonlinear function of propeller diameter to wingspan ratio $\frac {D}{b}$ , and propeller rotational speed. Rate and control derivatives were obtained using unsteady vortex lattice method with propeller induced flow effect modeled by Helical Vortex Modeling approach. In this research, we have proposed improved 6-DOF equations of motion, with a contribution of advance ratio $J$ . It is concluded, that propeller induced flow effects have a significant contribution in flight dynamic modeling for vehicles with large propeller diameter to wingspan ratio, $\frac {D}{b}$ of 22% or more.

/pdf/experimental-investigation-of-propeller-induced-flow-on-48az4tbfwm.pdf

Experimental Investigation of Propeller Induced Flow on Flying Wing Micro Aerial Vehicle for Improved 6DOF Modeling

The development of electric VTOL craft intended for Advanced Aerial Mobility is a relatively new but important trend in the aerospace industry. In this study, a cruise mode of a lifting-body vehicle with four propulsion pods is considered. Steady flights at several trim angles and speed 45 m/s are simulated using computational fluid dynamics. The main aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle are determined, including lift capabilities and thrust requirements at different trims. The vehicle body and thrusters are also modeled separately, and a comparison of their characteristics in isolated and combined setups is carried out. Larger differences between the bottom and isolated propulsors are found to occur at lower trim, while the top propulsors experience body-shielding effect. Computational data for the main aerodynamic characteristics and illustrations of flow field properties are presented in the paper. 

Performance and Rotor-Body Interactions of Novel eVTOL in Moderate-Speed Cruise

This paper gives a quantitative account of the influence of slipstream on the aerodynamic performance of a contrarotating propeller (CRP)/wing system, and compares it with the CRP and clean wing. To accurately evaluate the complex aerodynamic interaction, the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach using the sliding mesh method is performed at a typical freestream velocity of 30 m/s. Four different critical parameters, including the freestream angle of attack (AoA), axial spacing between the front propeller (FP) and rear propeller (RP), number of blades, and rotational speed, are considered in the present work. The results show that the thrust coefficient, power coefficient, and propulsion efficiency of the CRP/wing system change sharply and the difference in amplitude between adjacent waves is large. In particular, the propeller slipstream has a significant impact on the lift–drag performance of the wing in the case of a nonzero AoA. The presence of a wing also increases the efficiency of propulsion due to the recovery of vortices. In the case of a small axial spacing, the thrust coefficient value of the FP is significantly smaller than that of the RP. However, when the axial spacing exceeds a certain value, the opposite relationship is obtained. When the rotational speed increases from 3695 RPM to 8867 RPM, the lift coefficient and drag coefficient of the wing gradually increase.

/pdf/influence-of-aerodynamic-interaction-on-performance-of-2tvezrl5.pdf

Influence of Aerodynamic Interaction on Performance of Contrarotating Propeller/Wing System

We develop neural-network active flow controllers using a deep learning PDE augmentation method (DPM). The sensitivities for optimization are computed using adjoints of the governing equations without restriction on the terms that may appear in the objective function. In 1D Burgers' examples with analytic control functions, DPM-based control is comparably effective to supervised learning for in-sample solutions and more effective for out-of-sample solutions. The influence of the optimization time interval is analyzed, the results of which influence algorithm design and hyperparameter choice, balancing control efficacy with computational cost. We later develop adjoint-based controllers for two flows. First, we compare the drag-reduction performance and optimization cost of adjoint controllers and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) controllers for 2D, incompressible, confined cylinder flow at Re=100, with synthetic body forces along the cylinder boundary. The required model complexity for the DRL controller is 4k times that required for the DPM controller. In these tests, the DPM controller is 4.85 times more effective and 63.2 times less computationally intensive to train than the DRL controller. Second, we test DPM control for compressible, unconfined cylinder flow and extrapolate the controller to out-of-sample Reynolds numbers. We also train a simplified, steady controller based on the DPM control law. Both controllers stabilize the vortex shedding with a 99% drag reduction, demonstrating the robustness of the learning approach. For out-of-sample flows, both controllers successfully reduce drag and stabilize vortex shedding, indicating that the DPM-based approach results in a stable model. A key attractive feature is the flexibility of adjoint-based optimization, which permits optimization over arbitrarily defined control laws without the need to match a priori known functions.

Adjoint-based machine learning for active flow control

Considering the vibration generated by a propeller-driven UAV or encountering gust, the propeller will perform a very complex follower motion. A pitch and rotating coupled motion is proposed in the present work that can take more complex unsteady performance of follower force than a regular fixed-point rotating motion. In order to evaluate the unsteady follower force and conduct parametric study, an extensive ground test bench was designed for this purpose where the whole test system was driven by a linear servo actuator and the follower force was measured by a 6-component balance. For CFD simulation, coupled motion in particular needs detailed unsteady aerodynamic model; therefore, a high-fidelity CFD-based study integrated with the overset mesh method was complemented to solve the unsteady fluid of varying conditions. The results suggest that a significant influence on unsteady follower force is observed, and the mean value of in-plane force does not equal to zero during the coupled motion process. Compared with the regular fixed-point rotation of propeller, the fluctuation frequency of follower force in present work couples the rotation and pitch motion frequencies. In addition, the oscillation amplitude of out-plane force and torque is positively related with the pitch frequency, pitch amplitude, and relative length from leading edge of wing to the rotation center. For example, the oscillation amplitude of 1-blade’s out-plane force and torque increases by 57.122% and 66.542% for the 5 Hz-5 deg case compared with the 5 Hz-3 deg case, respectively. However, the torque is not sensitive to frequency of pitch motion. The generally excellent agreement evident between the ground test and numerical simulation results is important as guidance for our future investigation on “dynamic” aerodynamic performance of a propeller-driven UAV.

/pdf/an-experimental-and-numerical-evaluation-of-the-aerodynamic-l4q5ntr1.pdf

An Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of the Aerodynamic Performance of a UAV Propeller Considering Pitch Motion

An investigation of the aerodynamic performance for a propeller-aided lift-enhancing double wing configuration

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.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/20/3911/pdf

Hongbo Wang

Papers

An investigation of the aerodynamic performance for a propeller-aided lift-enhancing double wing configuration

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