Experimental analysis of propeller interactions with a flexible wing micro air vehicle

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Experimental analysis of propeller interactions with a flexible wing micro air vehicle

Gamble, Brian J. / Reeder, Mark F.

An experimental investigation into the effects of the propeller slipstream on a flexible wing micro-air-vehicle (MAV) with a 24' wingspan and 6' root chord was conducted. A static test bench was utilized to separately characterize the forces and moments acting on the motor and the airframe. The motor and propeller were mounted on a torque cell which was itself mounted on an air bearing table. A geometrically similar fuselage prototype, capable of wing location adjustment, was developed and mounted separately on a six degree-of-freedom balance. The resulting set of decoupled force and moment data was collected for varied wing placement, relative to the propeller, and for both a flexible and a rigid wing. In addition to the static tests, wind tunnel data was collected with the motor mounted on the vehicle and with the vehicle, in turn, mounted on a six-component balance. A tri-axial hotwire anemometer was used to capture velocity profiles in the wind tunnel to characterize propeller wake interactions at a typical operating speed and angle of attack. Momentum theory was used to estimate drag and thrust from the velocity profiles, and secondary flows generated by the propeller and by the wingtip vortices were captured. Propeller wake results indicate 12 - 18 % of propeller thrust translates into aircraft drag while 25 - 45 % of motor torque is countered by aircraft roll moment, with these values dependent on the placement of the wing. Results indicate that changing wing location is a viable option for improving pitch and yaw stability, without increasing power requirements.