CFD Simulation Of Propeller Performance And The Influence Of Slipstream Flow

The slipstream of propeller is a complex fluid motion. For instance, the redistribution ofpressure on the wings caused by the propeller wake would disturb the wings and the whole flow ofaircraft. In recent years, as propeller power is accepted with low energy cost, high performance andlow noise, propeller aircraft plays a more and more important role in the aerospace.Accordingly, theperformance of propeller computation and the flow of propeller aircraft attract more attention. Thestudy on the slipstream of propeller would help us to know the complex phenomena of flow. And italso gives great guidance in the engineering of aircraft design.To study the total flow affection of slipstream on some aircraft wings, we utilized the3-Dconstant Renault average equation. In further understanding the discreting of finite volume method,the computation of convection flux, the Runge-Kutta explicit time propulsion method and the SST K-ω turbulent flow equation, a sliding mesh technology and Momentum source method are applied tostudy the aeroperformance of propeller, as well as the slipstream of propeller affection on the aircraftwings. We proposed three models in our computation: the single propeller model; the no-flap andno-propeller model; with flap and propeller model. The results demonstrated a reasonable structureof the flow field and were in good agreement with the experiments. The modification of the flow wasdiscussed with(without) the propellers. The velocity of wake, the distribution of pressure in and out ofthe disturbance region were also analyzed and compared with no-propeller model.Our results show that the slipstream of propeller improves the lift coefficient and dragcoefficient,and the screwy vortex caused by the propeller gives a strong distribution of pressure onthe wing at the wake flow. The orientation of the flow depends on the rotation of the propeller.Especially, this method could give us a vivid performance of wing tip vortex and wake, whichmatches the experimental results well. It is concluded that the sliding mesh method for simulation ofthe flow with propellers would be a good way to analyze the properties of flow field..