Innovative Swirl Energy Recovery Design Measures for Propeller Aircraft
C.H. Nieuwboer (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
Leo L.M. Veldhuis – Mentor (TU Delft - Flight Performance and Propulsion)
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Abstract
Interest in open-rotor propeller engines has resurged due to their potential for higher efficiency, enabled by advances in technology that allow for larger Bypass Ratio (BPR) propellers. Open-rotor propeller engines are however characterised by a tangential velocity component in the propeller slipstream, called swirl, which is a form of loss. Swirl Recovery Vanes (SRVs) can partially recover this loss by converting the swirl velocity component into a small amount of additional thrust. This thesis aims to determine the most effective SRV position for total propulsive efficiency, using a lower-order aerodynamic analysis tool. Several different axial and radial SRV positions are analysed, which all show improvements in the overall propulsive efficiency. A single strategically placed vane directly behind the propeller performed the best, even outperforming a configuration with multiple vanes.