Simulating the effect of non-axial airflow on the motion of an undriven propeller

• Main Authors: Ng, Francis Gregory, Chua, Alvin
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Propellers; Wind power; Photogrammetry; Computational fluid dynamics; Mechanical Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/2896
• Institution: De La Salle University

It is evident that a windmill propeller action can be induced by airflow along its rotation axis. Whereas it has been proven that a spinning propeller has a significantly lower drag than a fixed one, this is unlikely to be the case when the airflow is non-axial. To properly account for this type of airflow, a series of flow simulations has been done. Photogrammetry has also been employed since it is essential to accurately capture the geometry of an actual propeller and avoid any oversimplification of the model. As a result of this investigation, it was found that a stable orientation is achieved when the length of the propeller is roughly perpendicular to the airflow. An undriven propeller is naturally static when exposed to non-axial airflow and thus when this scenario is part of a system, further flow analysis need not be transient. © 2020, World Academy of Research in Science and Engineering. All rights reserved.