Performance of Hybrid Composite Propellers for Drone

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Performance of Hybrid Composite Propellers for Drone

Xie, Jinlong / Zhu, Lei / Lee, Hsiao Mun / Lee, Heow Pueh

In recent years, the use of drones has becomes more common in commercial applications as well as among hobbyists. However, the characteristic loud buzz emanating from their use has been an issue, causing a nuisance to the user and those in the vicinity of the drone. Thus, in this study, the effects of various prepregs and their combinations on the aeroacoustic performance of the propeller were investigated experimentally for the objective of designing a low-noise propeller for drones. It was found that a propeller that made from pure carbon prepreg generated the highest noise level and produced the highest thrust force, whereas a propeller made from pure flax prepreg generated the lowest noise level and produced the lowest thrust force. The noise levels generated by propellers made from hybridization of carbon and flax prepregs are lower than those of the pure carbon prepreg propeller but higher than those of a pure flax prepreg propeller. A similar phenomenon was observed for the result of thrust force. It can be concluded that in addition to its low-noise characteristic, the propeller made from flax prepreg has a short prepreg curing time and is light weight, and it is also the cheapest propeller among the four propellers that were investigated in the present study.