A low order method for co-axial propeller and rotor performance prediction

P. Beaumier (1)

1 ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Meudon]

Rotary wings are widely used as propulsive or lifting devices in aerial vehicles. In the field of propulsion, propellers are very attractive because of their high efficiency due to high by-pass ratio. In the field of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicles, rotors are certainly the most efficient lifting devices, again because they can take advantage of a large amount of mass flow going through the rotors in hovering flight. In the present study, dual rotor configurations are considered in order to better understand the reasons why they can bring significant advantages in terms of efficiency against the conventional single rotor. To do this, a low order method has been developed and is validated as a pre-design tool for the aerodynamic performance evaluation of rotors and propellers, single or dual co-axial configurations, used as propulsive and lifting devices. Despite the very low level of modeling of the method, interesting conclusions can be drawn, which show that co-axial lifting rotors and contra-rotating propellers are interesting for different reasons.

Mots clés: CO-AXIAL; PROPELLER; ROTOR; AERODYNAMICS; PERFORMANCE

Domaines: Milieux fluides et réactifs

P. Beaumier. A low order method for co-axial propeller and rotor performance prediction. 29th Congrees of the International Council of the Aerautical Sciences (ICAS 2014), Sep 2014, SAINT-PETERSBOURG, Russia. ⟨hal-01079555⟩