Low Reynolds Number Propeller Performance Measurement in Wind Tunnel Test Rig

• Autor(a) principal: Alves, Pedro Jorge Ferreira
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/6454
• topic: Low Reynolds Propeller Performance; Thrust and Torque Balance.; Wind Tunnel Test Rig; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Outras Engenharias e Tecnologias

The objective of the work in this thesis was to to equip the University’s of Beira Interior wind tunnel with a Low Reynolds Number (LRN) Propeller Performance Test Rig. This LRN condition is veri ed in small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) applications or in the high-altitude airships covered by the project MAAT-Multybody Advanced Airship for Transport. The design, construction and validation of an accurate measuring mechanism was conducted. The test rig was developed to collect performance data of propellers with diameter between 6 to 14 inches (approx. 0.15 to 0.40m), operating at Reynolds number between 30,000 to 300,000 (based on chord at 3=4 of the blade radius). The design chosen for the thrust balance closely resembles the T-shaped pendulum structure originally built in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Due to the adjustable load cell positioning, this setting allows the use of the full range of the load cell for most thrust levels in the propeller size, relative wind speed and rotation speed ranges. The test rig was completely validated and the experimental procedure was shown herein as well. Furthermore, thrust and torque characteristics of two Aeronaut Carbon Electric were measured. It was shown that as the Reynolds number increases with the increase of propeller RPM, it affects the propellers performance increasing their thrust coef cient and their ef ciency. The developed test rig can be used for several purposes, namely: the design of propellers in the UBI’s Department of Aerospace Sciences; the development UAVs, as well as the validation and improvement of numerical tools such as JBLADE.