Effect of Groove Size on Aerodynamic Performance of a Low Reynolds Number UAV Propeller (Part II)

Abstract

Following on from the author's previous work on grooved propellers, numerical investigations are carried out on Applied Precision Composites Slow Flyer 10×7 propeller. Computational Fluid Dynamics is used to analyze the novel design. The grooved sections considered have a rectangular geometry measuring 0.1×0.3mm, 0.2×0.1mm, 0.2×0.2mm and 0.2×0.3mm which are placed at 0.09c, 0.17c, 0.32c and 0.42c from the leading edge. The results of the study showed that the presence of grooves modified the flow characteristics having only a negative impact on the thrust performance. However, the grooves improved the power performance due to torque reduction. The analysis of the KP results showed, in most models, the low torque relative to the baseline in the operational range of the low to medium advance ratio range. However, the improvement in torque did not improve the efficiency in all models.

Keywords

• passive flow control
• grooved propeller
• aerodynamic performance
• uav range
• uav endurance