Abstract
Although wind tunnels are the most popular aerodynamic measurement tool of today, whirling arms are another type of tool which is especially useful for the measurement at very low airspeed, including zero. The authors developed a modern whirling arm facility for the measurement of the characteristics of small-scale propellers. In this work, an experiment to measure the characteristics of APC SF 8x6 propeller at a negative advance ratio (from 0.0 to –0.8) is conducted. The rotation of the arm is controlled by a servo motor to maintain the steady rotational speed (i.e. axial airspeed of the propeller) against the thrust fluctuation of the propeller attached at the end of the arm. The very small standard error and standard deviation of the thrust and torque measurement demonstrate the developed system’s ability for precise aerodynamic measurement. In a certain range of advance ratio (from –0.4 to –0.8), remarkable fluctuation of thrust and torque was observed, which suggests the propeller was in a non-steady working condition such as vortex ring state.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- \( a \) :
-
Lift curve slope, \( {\text{rad}}^{ - 1} \)
- \( B \) :
-
Number of blades
- \( c \) :
-
Blade chord, \( {\text{m}} \)
- \( C_{Q} \) :
-
Torque coefficient
- \( C_{T} \) :
-
Thrust coefficient
- \( dD \) :
-
Differential aerodynamic drag generated in blade elements, \( {\text{N}} \)
- \( D \) :
-
Propeller diameter, \( {\text{m}} \)
- \( J \) :
-
Advance ratio
- \( dL \) :
-
Differential aerodynamic lift generated in blade elements, \( {\text{N}} \)
- \( m \) :
-
Mass of the measurement device, \( {\text{kg}} \)
- \( n \) :
-
Rotational speed, \( {\text{s}}^{ - 1} \)
- \( O \) :
-
Center of rotation
- \( Q \) :
-
Propeller torque, \( {\text{N}} \cdot {\text{m}} \)
- \( r \) :
-
Span from axis of rotation, \( {\text{m}} \)
- \( R \) :
-
Radius, \( {\text{m}} \)
- \( s \) :
-
Standard deviation, \( {\text{N}} \), \( {\text{N}} \cdot {\text{m}} \)
- \( T \) :
-
Thrust, \( {\text{N}} \)
- \( U \) :
-
Resultant airspeed, \( {\text{m}}/{\text{s}} \)
- \( v \) :
-
Induced velocity, \( {\text{m}}/{\text{s}} \)
- \( V \) :
-
Airspeed, \( {\text{m}}/{\text{s}} \)
- \( \alpha \) :
-
Angle of attack, \( {\text{rad}} \)
- \( \delta \) :
-
Blade drag coefficient in the cross sectional area of the propeller, \( {\text{rad}}^{ - 1} \)
- \( \eta \) :
-
Efficiency
- \( \theta \) :
-
Pitch angle, \( {\text{rad}} \)
- \( \lambda \) :
-
Airspeed ratio
- \( \rho \) :
-
Air density, \( {\text{kg}}/{\text{m}}^{3} \)
- \( \phi \) :
-
Inflow angle, \( {\text{rad}} \)
- \( \psi \) :
-
Rotational angle, \( {\text{rad}} \)
- \( \omega \) :
-
Angular velocity, \( {\text{rad}}/{\text{s}} \)
- \( c \) :
-
Centrifugal parameters
- \( h \) :
-
Parameters in hover
- \( i \) :
-
Parameters induced by the propeller
- \( p \) :
-
Parameters of the propeller
- \( r \) :
-
Representative parameters
- \( s \) :
-
Parameters in the steady state
- \( wa \) :
-
Parameters of the whirling arm
References
Betzina M (2001) Tiltrotor descent aerodynamics: small-scale experimental investigation of vortex ring state. In: Proceedings of the 57th annual forum of the American Helicopter Society, 9–11 May 2001, Washington, DC, Fairfax, American Helicopter Society International
Gill AP, Battipede M (2001) Experimental validation of the wing dihedral effect using a whirling arm equipment. J Aircr. https://doi.org/10.2514/2.2874
Gina H (2013) Modeling ships and space craft: the science and art of mastering the oceans and sky. Springer, New York, pp 160–163
Keogh J, Barber T, Diasinos S, Doig G (2015) Techniques for aerodynamic analysis of cornering vehicles. SAE technical paper. https://doi.org/10.4271/2015-01-0022
Mulkens JMM, Ormerod OO (1993) Measurements of aerodynamics rotary stability derivatives using a whirling arm facility. J Aircr. https://doi.org/10.2514/3.48263
Seddon J, Newman N (2011) Rotor in vertical flight: momentum theory and wake analysis. In: Seddon J (ed) Basic helicopter aerodynamics, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 23–61
Shetty RO, Selig SM (2011) Small-scale propellers operating in the vortex ring state. In: Proceedings of the 49th American institute of aeronautics and astronautics aerospace sciences meeting, 4–7 January 2011, Orlando, USA, Sunrise Valley Drive, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Washizu K, Azuma A, Koo J, Oka T (1966) Experiments on a model helicopter rotor operating in the vortex ring state. J Aircr. https://doi.org/10.2514/3.43729
Yaggy P, Mort K (1963) Wind-tunnel tests of two VTOL propellers in descent. NACA TN D-1766
Wayne J (2005) Model for vortex ring state influence on rotorcraft flight dynamics. NASA/TP-2005-213477
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Mamoru Kikuchi for the technical assistance in developing the whirling arm facility. The authors also thank the technical advisory group of Japan Aerospace Technology Foundation (JAST) for the assistance in measuring propeller characteristics.
This work is partially supported by the discretionary budget of the Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Iwate University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Itoh, Y., Satoh, A. (2019). Measurement of Propeller Characteristics at a Negative Advance Ratio Using a Whirling Arm Facility. In: Zhang, X. (eds) The Proceedings of the 2018 Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology (APISAT 2018). APISAT 2018. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 459. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3305-7_93
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3305-7_93
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-3304-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-3305-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)