Estudo experimental e computacional do desempenho de hélices em sistemas elétricos de propulsão para aerodesign

Abstract

This work presents an experimental and computational analysis of the performance of commercial propellers applied to electric propulsion systems for small-scale aircraft. The methodology integrated wind tunnel experiments, three-dimensional scanning of the propellers, and aerodynamic simulations using the Altair FlightStream software, which is based on a panel method with laminar and turbulent boundary layer models. In the experimental tests, thrust, rotational speed, current, and voltage were measured for four two-bladed propellers under different freestream velocities. The digitized models were reconstructed, remeshed, and simulated under the same operating conditions, enabling the comparison of pressure distribution, induced flow, and numerically predicted thrust. The results showed that the numerical method correctly reproduces the general trends of thrust variation with increasing airspeed, although quantitative discrepancies ranging from 10% to 60% were observed, depending on the propeller geometry and operating regime. These differences highlight the need for future studies to more comprehensively explore numerical simulation features that could not be fully assessed in this work, such as mesh refinement, boundary conditions, time-step size, convergence criteria, as well as flow separation and viscous coupling models. Nevertheless, the combined approach proved to be feasible to support the preliminary selection of propellers in the Aerodesign context, reducing the reliance on empirical testing and providing technical support for the improvement of the propulsion system. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]