Experimental Analysis of Propeller Forces and Moments at High Angle of Incidence

Abstract : An experimental measurement on propeller forces and moments at high incidence was introduced. Test apparatus and data reduction process was discussed. Two sets of propellers were tested in SaBRe low speed wind tunnel: Graupner E-prop was used to validate the test-bench against known experiment; The second case, consisting of 3D-printed propellers, demonstrated variations in propeller aerodynamic efforts produced at high incidence angle for various advance ratios and blade pitch angles. The test also highlighted the importance of 3 dimensional effects such as stall delay in estimating propeller forces and moments at high incidence angle.