Propeller Design Workshop

Presented by
David J. Gall
Gall Aerospace
David@Gall.com
www.PropellerDesignWorkshop.com

Theory and design of practical propellers, Part 2. Design

Methods

PROPELLER DESIGN
WORKSHOP
Propeller Design Methods

Propeller Aerodynamics
Concept
There are two things above all else that I
wanted you to learn from yesterdays forum:
Goldsteins function does for propellers what
elliptical loading does for wings - efficiency
Caveat: Different for each advance ratio and number of
blades

Each blade is a complete wing unto itself,

with a tip vortex from each end, hub and
tip
Hub vortices are additive

Propeller Design Methods

History
The development of propeller design
methods has mirrored the technologies of
the day
19th c.: Scientific method still in infancy
Helmholtz Theory of Vorticity
Foundation of Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics

Froudes and Rankines Actuator Disc Theory

Drzwieckis Blade Element theory
Wright Bros. first to combine them
Predicted and achieved remarkable ~66%
efficiency
Propeller Design Methods

History
Early 20th c.: Experiment and Analysis
Scientific method flourished in experiment
Eiffel wind tunnel investigation of wings and airfoils
Lesley & Durand tests of model propellers
See the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It

Prandtl et. al Gottingen tunnel: wings and airfoils

Weick et. al Langley propeller tunnel
Tests of full-scale propellers

N.A.C.A. Variable-density tunnel

Model and full-scale propeller tests
Investigation of effect of Reynolds number on wings &
props

Propeller Design Methods

History
Early 20th c.: Experiment and Analysis
Analysis flourished in academia and research
institutes
Lanchester: Concepts of vortex flow and circulation
Prandtl: Quantified Lanchesters description
Gave us the concepts of downwash and induced drag

Munk: Applied vortex theory to the optimization of wings

gave us the elliptic lift distribution

Betz: Applied vortex theory to the optimization of propellers

described the propeller analog of elliptic lift (thrust) distribution

Goldstein: Exact solution of Betz propeller distribution

Glauert: Comprehensive reformulation and consolidation
Theodorsen: Extended Goldsteins solution, reformulated
Glauert
Propeller Design Methods

History
The rest of the 20th century.
Airplane propeller theory all but stopped
in 1948
A smattering of papers on
Theodorsenss Theory
Larrabees wonderful works (Glauert rehashed)
Some stuff on hub effects and ducted
fans
Propeller Design Methods

History
The rest of the 20th century.
Marine propeller theory did not stop in 1948
1952, Lerbs: Non-uniform radial inflow velocity
Larrabees similar-appearing radially-graded
momentum theory is like Lerbs theory in the same
way a Yugo was like a real car

1955, Theodorsen was a no-show

1961, Kerwin: Vortex-lattice lifting-line solution
But marine engineers have formulated the
solution to the optimization problem incorrectly

Propeller Design Methods

Outline: Theory and design of practical

propellers, Part 2.
1.Conventional and computer design methods.
2.Spreadsheets.
3.Helical pitch.
4.Graphical layout.
5.Propellers of "Standard Form."
6.Analytic methods.
7.Computer design methods.
8.Ellippse(TM) propellers.
9.Carter propellers.
10.McGinnis' method.
11.Betz - Goldstein - Theodorsen Theory.
12.Minimum Induced Loss propellers: Larrabee's method.
13.Hepperle/Eppler.
14.Kerwin's method.

PROPELLER DESIGN
METHODS
Propeller Design Methods

1. Conventional and
Computer Design
Methods.
What is the desired output?

Use the tool most appropriate to the task

Dont need CAD? Then, dont use CAD!
Very often, the computer is only needed to
generate some numeric output
Thereafter, a drawing can be made by hand
You might not even need the computer my
cell phone could do it if there was an app

Propeller Design Methods

Desired Output
Full-size template at each 'X radius station
of:
Pressure-side (thrust face) including datum
Suction-side (camber face) including datum
Profiles modified to account for thickness of
subsequent laminations (glass, carbon, etc.)
X could be linear inches or percent radius

CAD files to send to the jobber?

G-codes to go directly to the milling
machine
Propeller Design Methods

Creating a Master Blade

Templates are glued to 1/8 masonite
and mounted in a pressure side and
suction side array
Used to make guide cuts in the prop
blank using a propeller duplicator

Creating a Master with a

CNC Router

2. Spreadsheets
I havent been able to get Excel to do
native iteration
Neither have I been able to get it to
integrate or interpolate using splines or
other non-linear interpolation schemes
Thats why I havent used my cell phone
(Excel)

Spreadsheets can be useful for some

preliminary work, but I find them ungainly
Propeller Design Methods

3. Helical pitch
Better to use NACA TN-212, available
as:
Design and Build Your Own
Propeller by Fred Weick, Sport
Aviation, December 1960
If youre an EAA member it is free to
download from the magazine archive

Propeller Design Methods

3. Helical pitch

Propeller Design Methods

4. Graphical Layout

Propeller Design Methods

5. Propellers of "Standard
Form"

Propeller Design Methods

6. Analytic Methods
Archaic; obsolete

Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Blade-element theory + momentum
(classical)
Vortex-lattice lifting line theory (Kerwin, et seq.)
Some lit. on corrections for blade curvature

Vortex lattice lifting surface theory (panel)

Low-order panels use linear approximation
Requires lots and lots of panels (fine grid)
Higher-order panel methods now investigated

RANS Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes CFD

Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Larrabees method is technically a bladeelement method + momentum theory
Larrabee laments that a lifting-line theory of
the propeller does not exist
I guess Larrabee hadnt read Kerwin!
It doesnt matter because at the design point
the two will give nearly identical results
And were only using it for design at that
point
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Helice With Dr. Susan French
Commercial version of Larrabees
method for wind turbines
Q-Prop Dr. Marc Drela with Dr.
Larrabee
Xrotor Dr. Marc Drela
DFDC Ducted Fan Design Code
Sorry, my internet is down so I cant
fact-check this morning
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Dr. Martin Hepperles JavaProp
Does Adkins and Liebecks version of Larrabee
Doesnt do the hub correctly (tapers to
nothing)
Doesnt do Theodorsen

Bates Engineering Prop Optimizer Pro

Appears to be a Monte Carlo method

Other web resources:

Be careful what you believe
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
NISA Software (free evaluation version)
Alibre Design (low-cost full 3D like
SolidWorks)
Google Sketch-Up
MatLab, Octave
Mathcad, Mathematica, (TK! Solver)
NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions
Java, Processing, SmallBasic, GNU tools, Mac
WolframAlpha.com
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Larrabees method as implemented here
is actually the algorithm from Design of
Optimum Propellers by Adkins & Liebeck,
published in Journal of Propulsion and
Power, Vol. 10, No. 5, Sept.-Oct. 1994
As modified by David J. Gall to include
Theodorsens theory (abridged)
And to include physical (structural)
constraints
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Additional Guidance from The
Aerodynamics of Propellers by
Quentin R. Wald, Progress in
Aerospace Sciences 42 (2006) 85128
An excellent article, well worth the
$35 from www.ScienceDirect.com

Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Wake occurs ahead of airplanes as well
as behind them it influences inflow to
the prop
The wake adaptation algorithm used here
is an implementation of a method given in
Influence of Fuselage on Propeller
Design by Theodor Troller, translated
from the original German and published as
NACA Technical Memorandum No. 492
(replete with typos!!)
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Based on work by Fuhrmann before WWI
This work was immensely important in
reconciling theoretical and practical
aerodynamics
It solved dAlemberts Paradox
(complaint)
It showed that the parasite drag is the sum
of the (theoretically calculated) pressure
drag, the skin friction drag, and the BL wake
drag
Propeller Design Methods

7. Computer Design
Methods
Trollers body wake adaptation algorithm
employs von Karmans adaptation of
Prandtls line distribution of Rankines
source-sink method to approximate a
body of revolution
This is probably the first instance of CFD
that worked, yet its a footnote in history
Lets talk about spinners and inlets and
outlets
Propeller Design Methods

8. Ellippse Propellers

Propeller Design Methods

8. Ellippse Propellers
Arbitrarily forces an elliptical lift distribution
from tip-to-tip (across the hub) without
regard for the reversal of circulation across
the hub
Arbitrarily imposes an elliptical distribution
vs. solving for the shape of the distribution
curve as a function of the Betz condition
Ignores the fundamental importance and the
overarching achievement of Goldsteins work
Propeller Design Methods

9. Carter Propellers
Apparently designed using the idea
that the aft-ward acceleration of air
should be constant along the blade,
vs. Betz condition of aft-ward
velocity being constant
Static thrust measurement is not
adequate to predict in-flight
performance
Propeller Design Methods

10. McGinnis Method

Designed for constant Reynolds Number
(Re) along the blade from hub to tip
I dont know whether theres any
consideration for the loading distribution
along the blade
I can do a constant Re prop very easily
using Larrabees method while still
retaining consideration for the optimum
loading
Propeller Design Methods

11. Computer Design

Methods
Betz - Goldstein - Theodorsen Theory
Minimum Induced Loss (MIL)
Propellers: Larrabee's method
Lerbs radially non-uniform inflow
method
Kerwin's method Vortex Lattice
Lifting Line and Vortex Lattice Lifting
Surface
Propeller Design Methods

11. Computer Design

Methods
Whats your input?
Power
Physical constraints
Design operating conditions (design points)

Whats your DATA

Good Goldstein numbers are hard to find
Im using values published by Wald

Whats your interpolation scheme

Original DTMB documents have complex
interpolation
Propeller Design Methods

Propeller Design Workshop

David J. Gall
Gall Aerospace
David@Gall.com
www.PropellerDesignWorkshop.com