In-Hover Aerodynamic Analysis of a Small Rotor with a Thin Circular-Arc Airfoil and a Convex Structure at Low Reynolds Number

Abstract

This study focused on the in-hover aerodynamics of a small rotor with a thin circular-arc airfoil and a convex structure at a low Reynolds number. The method combined computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the blade element momentum theory (BEMT). The former was used for studying the two-dimensional parametric aerodynamics of the airfoil at a low Reynolds number and the latter was used for the prediction of the rotor’s hover performance. A novel thin circular-arc airfoil with a convex structure with a high aerodynamic performance, high structural strength, light weight and easy manufacturing process is presented in this paper. A convex curve on the upper surface was adopted to increase the thickness of the airfoil at partial chord, and a stiffener in the airfoil was installed to improve the structural strength of rotor span-wise. The aerodynamic performance of the airfoil was numerically simulated by the two-dimensional steady and incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The in-hover performance of the rotor for small-scale vehicles was predicted by an improved version of the blade element momentum theory (BEMT). Finally, a carbon-fiber rotor with the presented airfoil was manufactured that had a diameter of 40 cm and a pitch of 6.2 inches. The analysis results were verified by experiments. It was shown that the maximum calculation errors were below 6%. The improved BEMT can be used in the analysis of in-hover micro-rotor aerodynamics at low Reynolds numbers.