• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.30-44
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• 2021

Experimental investigation of counter-rotating propellers is subject to multiple time and cost constraint because of additional design parameters unlike single propeller. Also, a lot of computing time and resources are required for numerical analysis due to consideration of the interference between the upper and lower propellers. In the present study, numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the hover performance of counter-rotating propellers by using actuator method which is considered to be time-efficient. The accuracy of the present numerical methods was validated by comparing the ANSYS Fluent which is commercial CFD code. The axial spacing and rotational speed were selected as the analysis variables, and the aerodynamic performance was obtained under various conditions. Based on the obtained results, the Figure of Merit (FM) of single propeller and counter-rotating propellers and a prediction factor which enables prediction of counter-rotating propeller performance using a single propeller were derived to evaluate availability of the actuator method.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2020

In this study, a numerical analysis was performed on 26 inch single and coaxial propeller using the ANSYS Fluent 19.0 Solver to analyse the effect of the distance between coaxial propellers as one of the design parameter. The Moving Reference Frame (MRF) method was used for single propeller, while the sliding mesh method was used for a coaxial propeller to analyse the flow field varying with azimuth angle. The thrust and power are decreased as the upper and lower propeller approaching each other. As H/D is increased, interference between the propellers is decreased. According to the flow field variable contour of the coaxial propeller, it appears that the change in aerodynamic performance is due to the loading effect and the tip vortex wake effect.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2018

In this paper, the test facility for coaxial propellers at low Reynolds developed and validated by measured data. The test equipment was designed to measure the hovering performance of propellers according to distances between the upper/lower propellers. Thrust, torque, rotational speed, vibration, and amperage of upper and lower propellers can be measured separately. The data acquisition system was built to collect signals of sensors, and LabVIEW software was used to control the motor and collect the signal. The hover performance tests of single propellers were preceded for the facility validation, and then the performance values of coaxial propellers were measured according to distances and diameter differences between the upper/lower propellers. The results showed that the high efficiency is achieved at 20%~30% distance between the upper propeller and lower one. The configuration that the upper propeller has shorter diameter than the lower one has the highest efficiency than other configuration.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.56-63
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• 2019

Performance analyses were performed on a propeller developed for use in a PAV (Personal Air Vehicle) under 600 kg Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW). The actuator disc theory and CFD analyses were used to estimate the hovering time with regards to MTOW variation for a given battery weight. The interference induced power factor kint was introduced to account for the effect of flow interference between the propellers and to estimate the performance of counter-rotating propellers. The Maximum Figure of Merit (FM) value of the propeller pitch was determined and the design RPM range for the required power inversely obtained from the CFD results. Previous research indicate that the flight time of large multi-copter is limited by the available battery energy density. Similarly, the propeller pitch settings and spacing are important factors in reducing the kint value.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.560-562
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• 2017

This paper presents the development and test results of a test rig for confirming the hover performance of the coaxial propeller which is applied to the drone in order to carry out the mission that requires high payload such as the development of the courier drones. the performance of each propeller was measured by varying the thrust and torque according to the H/D ratio. the Thrust sensor and torque sensor were used to measure the thrust and torque generated when the propeller rotated, and a photo sensor was used to measure the rpm. it used the data acquisition system to acquire data from each sensor, and used the Labview softwaer to control data storage, monitoring and BLDC motor control. In the test, each propeller meansured the figure of mefit according to the chansge of the interval at the same rpm.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.599-608
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• 2022

Urban air mobility (UAM) equipped with rotor system is subject to ground effect at vertiport during takeoff and landing. The aerodynamic performance of the aircraft in ground effect should be analyzed for the safe operation. In this study, The ground effects on the aerodynamic performance and wake structure of the quadcopter electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) configuration equipped with coaxial counter-rotating propellers were investigated by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The influence of the ground effect was observed differently in the upper and lower propellers of the coaxial counter-rotating propeller system. There was no significant change in the aerodynamic performance of the upper propeller even if the propeller height above the ground was changed, whereas the averaged thrust and torque of the lower propeller increased significantly as propeller height decreased. In addition, the amplitude of the thrust fluctuation tended to increase as the propeller height decreased. The propeller wake was not sufficiently propagated downstream and was diffused along the ground due to the outwash flow developed by the ground effect. The impingement of the rotor wakes on the ground and a fountain vortex structure were observed.