Development of a Propeller Blade for a Variable Pitch Mechanism

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, André Filipe Gomes
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/13014
• topic: Hélice de Passo Variável; Impressão de Hélice em 3d; Modelo de Hélice em Desenho Assistido por Computador; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Engenharia Aeronáutica

Considering the evolution of the urban air mobility concept and the increasing number of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in development, the use of the correct propeller for this kind of aircraft is paramount. This dissertation’s purpose is to develop a propeller blade with a propulsive efficiency as good as possible when used in a variable pitch mechanism. A blade propeller geometry was developed to be used in the different stages of flight. Therefore, during take-off, climbing and hover conditions the propeller can be used with low pitch to increase the performance in thrust per unit power. On the other hand, during cruise flight condition the propeller can be used with a coarse pitch to operate with greater propulsive efficiency. A proper propeller blade geometry was achieved. The respective CAD model with additional features was developed to build a prototype of the propeller using a FDM 3D printer. Specific printing settings and different finishing processes were applied to obtain the most accurate results possible. Comparing numerical and experimental results small divergences were realized. Considering the similarity between the results and the similar divergences that also occurred in the analysis of different propellers tested in identical conditions are indicators that it is possible to use 3D printing as a low cost way of rapid prototyping low Reynolds number propellers geometries that can be submitted to experimental performance tests.