Experimental investigation of propeller inflow behaviour in non-axial operational regimes

Zarev, Angel (2020) Experimental investigation of propeller inflow behaviour in non-axial operational regimes. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been performed to measure the inflow of two and four-bladed propellers. This is conducted over a range of advance ratios (J = 0.36 to 1.54) and yaw angles (γ= 0 to 20◦) at a Reynolds number of Re≈111000, based on the chord length and advancing blade resultant velocity at the 70% spanwise position. Drawing on experimental results, three major qualitative trends are observed, that characterise the axial induced inflow of inclined propellers: the formation of an approximately sinusoidal inflow trend around the azimuth featuring broad regions of increased and reduced inflow, an azimuthal phase shift of the trend from the advancing and retreating blade positions, and the dependencies of the inflow maxima, minima and phase shift on advance ratio, yaw angle and radial position. These are subsequently compared against two widely used assumptions for calculating the aerodynamic environment of inclined propellers; firstly, that inflow at each radial and azimuthal elements calculated using an axial approximation of the whole propeller disc operating within the same condition as that element, and secondly, uniform induced inflow across the entire propeller plane. The comparison demonstrates the limitations of said assumptions by highlighting their inability to account for components of the trailed and shed vortical systems of the propeller wake. The results are also compared against CFD, demonstrating excellent consistency with the computational solution.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Due to copyright issues the electronic version of this thesis is not available for viewing.
• Keywords: Experimental aerodynamics, propeller propulsion, fluid mechanics, yawed flow.
• Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General); T Technology > T Technology (General); T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); T Technology > TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Autonomous Systems and Connectivity
• Funder's Name: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Supervisor's Name: Green, Dr. Richard
• Date of Award: 2020
• Embargo Date: 27 October 2023
• Depositing User: Dr Angel Zarev
• Unique ID: glathesis:2020-81765
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 28 Oct 2020 15:23
• Last Modified: 04 Jun 2021 16:15
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/81765

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