Comparing Blade-Element Momentum Modeling to 3-D CFD

Many small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) are driven by small-scale fixed-blade propellers, and the flow produced by the propeller can have a significant impact on the aerodynamics of the SUAV itself.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) are becoming increasingly popular for surveillance and numerous other applications. These SUAVs come in various sizes, and the smallest are referred to as micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). For purposes here, SUAV will be used to refer to all UAVs that are portable by a man.

SUAVs commonly use small-scale fixed-blade propellers for propulsion. Fixed-blade propellers means the blade is rigidly fixed to the hub so that the blade pitch cannot be changed for various flight conditions. Propellers mounted in a tractor configuration often have significant effects on SUAV aerodynamics. Therefore, to perform Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of a SUAV-propeller system, the SUAV and the propeller must often be simulated in a coupled fashion as the SUAV-propeller interaction is strong.