Propeller Design Workshop

Presented by David J. Gall Gall Aerospace David@Gall.com www.PropellerDesignWorkshop.com

Theory and design of practical propellers, Part 2. Design Methods

PROPELLER DESIGN WORKSHOP Propeller Design Methods

Propeller Aerodynamics Concept

There are two things above all else that I wanted you to learn from yesterdays forum: Goldsteins function does for propellers what elliptical loading does for wings - efficiency
Caveat: Different for each advance ratio and number of blades

Each blade is a complete wing unto itself, with a Propeller Design Methods tip vortex from each

History
The development of propeller design methods has mirrored the technologies of the day 19th c.: Scientific method still in infancy
Helmholtz Theory of Vorticity
Foundation of Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics

Froudes and Rankines Actuator Disc Theory Drzwieckis Blade Element theory Propeller Design Methods

History
Early 20th c.: Experiment and Analysis
Scientific method flourished in experiment
Eiffel wind tunnel investigation of wings and airfoils Lesley & Durand tests of model propellers
See the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It

Prandtl et. al Gottingen tunnel: wings and airfoils Weick et. al Langley propeller tunnel
Propeller Design Methods Tests of full-scale propellers

History
Early 20th c.: Experiment and Analysis
Analysis flourished in academia and research institutes
Lanchester: Concepts of vortex flow and circulation Prandtl: Quantified Lanchesters description
Gave us the concepts of downwash and induced drag

Munk: Applied vortex theory to the optimization of wings

gave us the elliptic lift distribution

Betz: Applied vortex theory to the optimization of propellers

described the propeller analog of elliptic lift (thrust) distribution

Goldstein: Exact solution of Betz propeller distribution Propeller Design Methods Glauert: Comprehensive reformulation and

History
The rest of the 20th century.
Airplane propeller theory all but stopped in 1948 A smattering of papers on Theodorsenss Theory Larrabees wonderful works (Glauert rehashed) Some stuff on hub effects and ducted fans
Propeller Design Methods

History
The rest of the 20th century.
Marine propeller theory did not stop in 1948 1952, Lerbs: Non-uniform radial inflow velocity
Larrabees similar-appearing radiallygraded momentum theory is like Lerbs theory in the same way a Yugo was like a real car

1955, Theodorsen was a no-show 1961, Kerwin: Vortex-lattice lifting-line solution Propeller Design Methods

Outline: Theory and design of practical propellers, Part 2.

1.Conventional and computer design methods. 2.Spreadsheets. 3.Helical pitch. 4.Graphical layout. 5.Propellers of "Standard Form." 6.Analytic methods. 7.Computer design methods. 8.Ellippse(TM) propellers. 9.Carter propellers. 10.McGinnis' method. 11.Betz - Goldstein - Theodorsen Theory. 12.Minimum Induced Loss propellers: Larrabee's method. 13.Hepperle/Eppler. 14.Kerwin's method.

PROPELLER DESIGN METHODS Propeller Design Methods

 What is the desired output? Use the tool most appropriate to the task Dont need CAD? Then, dont use CAD! Very often, the computer is only needed to generate some numeric output Thereafter, a drawing can be made Propeller Design Methods by hand

1. Conventional and Computer Design Methods.

Desired Output
Full-size template at each 'X radius station of:
Pressure-side (thrust face) including datum Suction-side (camber face) including datum Profiles modified to account for thickness of subsequent laminations (glass, carbon, etc.) X could be linear inches or percent Propeller Design Methods radius

Creating a Master Blade

Templates are glued to 1/8 masonite and mounted in a pressure side and suction side array Used to make guide cuts in the prop blank using a propeller duplicator

Creating a Master with a CNC Router

2. Spreadsheets
I havent been able to get Excel to do native iteration Neither have I been able to get it to integrate or interpolate using splines or other non-linear interpolation schemes Thats why I havent used my cell phone (Excel) Spreadsheets can be useful for some Propeller Design Methods preliminary work, but I find them

3. Helical pitch
Better to use NACA TN-212, available as: Design and Build Your Own Propeller by Fred Weick, Sport Aviation, December 1960 If youre an EAA member it is free to download from the magazine archive

Propeller Design Methods

3. Helical pitch

Propeller Design Methods

4. Graphical Layout

Propeller Design Methods

5. Propellers of "Standard Form"

Propeller Design Methods

6. Analytic Methods
Archaic; obsolete

Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design Methods

Blade-element theory + momentum (classical) Vortex-lattice lifting line theory
(Kerwin, et seq.) Some lit. on corrections for blade curvature

Vortex lattice lifting surface theory (panel)

Low-order panels use linear approximation Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design Methods

Larrabees method is technically a blade-element method + momentum theory Larrabee laments that a lifting-line theory of the propeller does not exist I guess Larrabee hadnt read Kerwin! It doesnt matter because at the design point the two will give nearly identical results Propeller Design Methods And were only using it for design at

7. Computer Design Methods

Helice With Dr. Susan French Commercial version of Larrabees method for wind turbines Q-Prop Dr. Marc Drela with Dr. Larrabee Xrotor Dr. Marc Drela DFDC Ducted Fan Design Code Sorry, my internet is down so I cant fact-check this morning

Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design Methods

Dr. Martin Hepperles JavaProp
Does Adkins and Liebecks version of Larrabee Doesnt do the hub correctly (tapers to nothing) Doesnt do Theodorsen

Bates Engineering Prop Optimizer Pro

Appears to be a Monte Carlo method
Propeller Design Methods

Other web resources:

7. Computer Design Methods

NISA Software (free evaluation version) Alibre Design (low-cost full 3D like SolidWorks) Google Sketch-Up MatLab, Octave Mathcad, Mathematica, (TK! Solver) NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design Methods

Larrabees method as implemented here is actually the algorithm from Design of Optimum Propellers by Adkins & Liebeck, published in Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 10, No. 5, Sept.-Oct. 1994 As modified by David J. Gall to include Theodorsens theory (abridged) Propeller Design Methods And to include physical (structural)

7. Computer Design Methods

Additional Guidance from The Aerodynamics of Propellers by Quentin R. Wald, Progress in Aerospace Sciences 42 (2006) 85128 An excellent article, well worth the $35 from www.ScienceDirect.com

Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design Methods

Wake occurs ahead of airplanes as well as behind them it influences inflow to the prop The wake adaptation algorithm used here is an implementation of a method given in Influence of Fuselage on Propeller Design by Theodor Troller, translated from the original German and published as Propeller Design Methods NACA Technical Memorandum No.

7. Computer Design Methods

Based on work by Fuhrmann before WWI This work was immensely important in reconciling theoretical and practical aerodynamics It solved dAlemberts Paradox (complaint) It showed that the parasite drag is the sum of the (theoretically Propeller Design Methods calculated) pressure drag, the skin

7. Computer Design Methods

Trollers body wake adaptation algorithm employs von Karmans adaptation of Prandtls line distribution of Rankines source-sink method to approximate a body of revolution This is probably the first instance of CFD that worked, yet its a footnote in history Propeller Design Methods Lets talk about spinners and inlets

8. Ellippse Propellers

Propeller Design Methods

8. Ellippse Propellers
Arbitrarily forces an elliptical lift distribution from tip-to-tip (across the hub) without regard for the reversal of circulation across the hub Arbitrarily imposes an elliptical distribution vs. solving for the shape of the distribution curve as a function of the Betz condition Ignores the fundamental importance Propeller Design Methods and the overarching achievement of

9. Carter Propellers
Apparently designed using the idea that the aft-ward acceleration of air should be constant along the blade, vs. Betz condition of aft-ward velocity being constant Static thrust measurement is not adequate to predict in-flight performance
Propeller Design Methods

10. McGinnis Method

Designed for constant Reynolds Number (Re) along the blade from hub to tip I dont know whether theres any consideration for the loading distribution along the blade I can do a constant Re prop very easily using Larrabees method while still retaining consideration for the Propeller Design Methods optimum loading

11. Computer Design Methods

Betz - Goldstein - Theodorsen Theory Minimum Induced Loss (MIL) Propellers: Larrabee's method Lerbs radially non-uniform inflow method Kerwin's method Vortex Lattice Lifting Line and Vortex Lattice Lifting Surface
Propeller Design Methods

11. Computer Design Methods

Whats your input?
Power Physical constraints Design operating conditions (design points)

Whats your DATA

Good Goldstein numbers are hard to find
Im using values published by Wald

Whats your interpolation scheme

Propeller Design Methods Original DTMB

documents have complex

Propeller Design Workshop

David J. Gall Gall Aerospace David@Gall.com www.PropellerDesignWorkshop.com