[en] Multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles make use of multiple propellers, mounted on arms, to produce the required lift. This article investigates the influence on propulsion system efficiency
in hover due to the configuration of these propellers. Influence of pusher or puller configuration
of the propeller, number of blades, shape and dimensions of the arm, coaxial and overlapping propellers, is presented. A dedicated test bench that allows testing of various experimental setups is designed and built in order to realistically represent multi-rotor arms. Test results show that a two-bladed pusher configuration is most efficient and slenderness of the arm has more influence on
efficiency than shape. A coaxial propulsion system approaches the efficiency of a single-prop system at high disk loadings. Finally, interference effects due to overlapping propellers are discussed.
Disciplines :
Aerospace & aeronautics engineering
Author, co-author :
Theys, Bart; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - KUL > Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dimitriadis, Grigorios ; Université de Liège > Département d'aérospatiale et mécanique > Interactions Fluide-Structure - Aérodynamique expérimentale
Hendrick, Patrick; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Aero-thermo-mechanics
De Schutter, Joris; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - KUL > Department of Mechanical Engineering
Language :
English
Title :
Influence of propeller configuration on propulsion system efficiency of multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Publication date :
June 2016
Event name :
International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, ICUAS 2016
Event place :
Arlington, Virginia, United States
Event date :
form 07-06-2016 to 10-06-2016
Audience :
International
Main work title :
Proceedings of the International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, ICUAS 2016
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