Overview of Low Speed Wind Tunnel Testing Conducted on a Wingtip Mounted Propeller for the Workshop for Integrated Propeller Prediction

Abstract

Helden Aerospace, Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have teamed to investigate the effects of wing tip mounted propellers using a novel, low speed powered wind tunnel test conducted in the Lockheed Martin Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) located in Marietta, GA. Recent renewed interest in propeller driven aircraft has created a need for powered test data for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes for these applications. This effort represents a critical first step in the ability to accurately predict propeller effects with confidence as it culminates in an open powered test database that can be used for CFD validation. There are two overall objectives for this effort. The primary objective is the generation of an open powered wind tunnel test database for CFD validation of propeller effects in general and tip mounted propeller effects specifically. The secondary objective is to validate the tip mounted propeller aerodynamic efficiency benefit achieved through induced drag reductions from the propeller rotating in the opposite direction of the wing tip vortex. This paper documents the overall effort, including a description of the wind tunnel model design, the wind tunnel facility, the test effort, and details of the available test data. It also introduces the 1st Workshop for Integrated Propeller Prediction that was held in June of 2019.