Turboprop Engine Propeller CFD Simulation

Description

Turboprop Engine Propeller CFD Simulation, ANSYS Fluent Training

Description

An aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew, converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller forwards or backward. It comprises a rotating power-driven hub to which several radial airfoil-section blades are attached so that the whole assembly rotates about a longitudinal axis.

Propellers are most suitable for use at subsonic airspeeds, generally below about 480 mph (770 km/h)

In this case, it is modeled from an A 6-bladed Hamilton Standard 568F propeller on an ATR 72 short-haul airliner and its model with the constant pitch for blades rotation. These propellers are placed in a subsonic flow with a Mach number of 0.4. The speed and pressure changes and the propellers’ speed profile are investigated.

The present model in the 3-D domain of this simulation has been designed in ANSYS Design Modeler. The domain contains a velocity inlet, pressure outlet, and wall for the missile wall and side for the far field.

The meshing of this present model has been generated by ANSYS Meshing software. The mesh grid is unstructured; the total cell number is 9,622,423 elements.

Methodology: Turboprop Engine Propeller CFD Simulation

In this simulation, the Density-Based solver has been used. For modeling turbulence, the k-omega SST model was used. This model simulates the propeller’s rotation with the MRF method.

Conclusion

In the simulation results, According to the speed contour, it can be seen how the flow spreads widely in the space after hitting the propeller and its speed increases. Because the propeller does not use the duct fan theorem, it creates larger vortices far from the propeller itself. The shape of these vortices is one of the important topics that can be deduced in this case.

Turbulence contour also shows that the turbulence is at its highest value behind the propellers and decreases as it moves away from the propeller.

The pressure contour shows the pressure distribution in the front and back of the propeller disc. It also shows how it is spread across the domain concerning speed.

The contours of the flow path show how the flow rotates over the propellers. The way it acts when it comes into contact with the free flow is also apparent.