Wake Instabilities of Tip-Loaded Propellers: Comparison between CLT and “New Generation” CLT Configurations

Abstract

Tip loading is a common strategy to increase the propulsive efficiency of propellers. Solutions such as contracted and tip-loaded (CLT) and “New generation” CLT propellers exploit the presence of an endplate (“true” or as the result of a dedicated modification of the rake distribution) to sustain the increased load at the tip of the blade, at the cost of more complex vortical structures. Their evolution, and the mutual interaction of secondary vortices originated by the endplate itself, however, has not been completely and deeply investigated. The current paper addresses this topic by improved delayed detached eddy simulations (IDDES) of the flow field around two propellers of this type at different loading conditions. The presence of secondary vortices from the endplate root (or from the bended blade at tip), partially observed in recent experiments, is evidenced by high-fidelity CFD calculations. The interaction mechanism with the primary vortices (those from the endplate tip), and the resulting strengthening of the vortical structures, also through the interaction with the blade trailing vortical wake that promote the leapfrogging phenomenon, is discussed as well, comparing the phenomena in the case of two optimally designed geometries (a CLT and a New Generation CLT propeller) exploiting the same pressure side tip-loading concept in a slightly different way. Results show a rather different instability mechanism depending on the endplate configuration and open the discussion on the effectiveness of splitting a single tip vortex into pairs of vortical structures that may induce similar (or even worse) side effects in terms of pressure minima in the wake and earlier wake destabilization.

The impact of curved-tip propeller geometry on hovering drone performance for air quality monitoring

“…It corresponds to a promising technology that is utilized in the maritime area. [39][40][41][42] To some extent, the higher the bend angle is, the greater the reduction in propeller drag. 41 Curved-Tip propellers, as opposed to ducted, tandem, or contra-rotating propellers, may respond suitably to these requirements.…”

A Study on the Wake Evolution of a Set of RIM-Driven Thrusters

“…Some characteristics of the vortical wakes of RIM-driven thrusters were evidenced in the case of the optimal geometries designed in [12], but only RANSE calculations and simplified steady cases using Moving Reference Frames were employed for those analyses. None of the theoretical [18,19], experimental [20,21], or numerical studies [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] available for conventional and tip-loaded propellers, as well as for ducted propulsors and pumpjets, were repeated for RIM-driven thrusters with the same systematic approach.…”