What is it about?

Effects of layout of multiple propellers on aerodynamic characteristics of a fixed-wing are numerically investigated to obtain design guidelines for electric-propeller airplane that typically use multiple propellers. The results show that the wing with one propeller mounted at the wingtip has the highest lift-to-drag ratio at the cruise condition and the lift-to-drag ratio decreases as the number of propellers increased. On the other hand, the results also show the wing with multiple propellers has higher lift coefficient at the take-off/landing condition. We also discuss the physical reasoning by looking at the flow field in detail.

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Why is it important?

In electric-propeller airplane design, we have a high degree of freedom in selecting the number of propellers and their layout. This paper clarifies for the first time the effect of multiple propellers on the aerodynamic characteristics of a wing under cruising and take-off/landing conditions and its physical background.

Perspectives

We clarified the effect of multiple propellers on the aerodynamic characteristics of a wing. We expected the knowledge obtained here will contribute to the aerodynamic design of future electric-propeller airplanes.

Shota Taniguchi
The University of Tokyo

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Effects of multiple propellers on aerodynamic characteristics of fixed-wing, June 2022, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2022-3815.
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