Improving High Angle of Attack Performance of an Aircraft With Leading Edge Mounted Propellers Through Nacelle and Leading Edge Modification
N.T. Suard (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
LLM Veldhuis – Mentor (TU Delft - Flow Physics and Technology)
R.R. Duivenvoorden – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Flight Performance and Propulsion)
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Abstract
Propeller technology offers high efficiency and therefore it is increasingly attractive for sustainable aviation concepts. Leading edge mounted propellers blow the wing and thus can augment the wing lift however they also introduce undesirable interaction effects. This study focuses on understanding and addressing the interaction effects introduced by the nacelle through wing leading edge and nacelle modifications to increase the high angle of attack performance. This is achieved through the use of a RANS model that is validated using wind tunnel test data. Two methods are evaluated to improve the performance, leading edge droop and a nacelle wing junction fillet. While the droop was able to improve leading edge alignment and reduce the leading edge pressure peak it was not able to substantially improve performance. The fillet improved the junction flow, resulting in an increase in performance however neither modification alone offers complete a solution to the negative interaction effects.