Effect of Partial Ground and Partial Ceiling on Propeller Performance

Abstract

Finite extent flat obstacles behind a propeller (“partial ground”) and ahead of the propeller (“partial ceiling”) were examined experimentally for a small-scale fixed-pitch propeller in hover. Cases included circular and annular plates, which can be summed up or superimposed. Near-surface smoke and [Formula: see text] flow visualization show a projected time-averaged streamline on the ground plate, dividing a swirling flow inboard and a radial flow outboard. The flow pattern was juxtaposed with pressure data on the ground plate. Changes in propeller thrust and power due to ground/ceiling effect were measured by a force balance and correlated with flow visualization. For a plate of diameter equal to that of the propeller, ground effect on thrust and power was comparable to that of an “infinite” plate, while the flowfield also resembles that of the infinite plate. For a plate of less than half of the propeller diameter, ground or ceiling effect was found to be negligible. Thrust and power effects for circular and respective annular plates were superimposed to determine whether the increase in thrust or decrease in power required is itself additive to the respective effects seen with the constituent obstacles. For ceiling effect, this holds but less so for ground effect. A curve fit to thrust and power data resulted in a predictive model accurate to within 6%.