ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE SLOT INSTALLATION ANGLE ON THE THRUST AND EFFICIENCY OF A UAV SLOTTED PROPELLER

Kateryna Balalaieva, Anton Balalaiev, Olexiy Shynkarenko

Abstract


The subject of the study is the thrust characteristics and efficiency of slotted propellers of an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV). The object is the slot installation angle of a UAV slotted propeller. The work aims to evaluate the aerodynamic efficiency and thrust of UAV slotted propellers, taking into account the effect of the installation angle on the slot angle. Task: based on mathematical modeling of the flow, calculate the thrust characteristics of UAV slotted propellers for propellers with different slot installation angles on the propeller blades in a given range of rotational speeds; obtain the dependences of the propeller efficiency on the advance ratio in a given range of rotational speeds, taking into account the effect of the slot installation angle. A study of the flow around slotted propellers was conducted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Modeling was based on solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations using the SST turbulence model. The computational domain was discretized using the finite volume method with local mesh refinement near the surface of the blades and slotted channels to account for the boundary layer effect. Results. The paper presents the obtained thrust characteristics and the dependence of the coefficient of friction on the advance ratio for rotation speeds of 9000 rpm, 11000 rpm, and 13000 rpm. Three propeller slot installation angle options were considered: 45°, 0°, and -45°. The slot location, length, and width were not varied. The obtained results showed that the slot installation angle significantly affects the propeller thrust characteristics and propeller efficiency. The use of boundary layer control by using slots on propeller blades with rationally selected geometric parameters of the slots, including the slot angle, allows for an expansion of the range of propeller operating modes, which increases the flight speed by up to 10%. Still, at the same time, propeller efficiency decreases by 1-8%. It is worth noting that the paper examined the flow and analyzed the performance of slotted propellers with only three slot installation angle options. Conclusions. The research results have theoretical and practical significance for substantiating the selection of UAV slot propeller parameters. Future plans include exploring a wider range of slot angles and assessing the impact of slot width on propeller performance and thrust. The scientific novelty of these results lies in the fact that they provide new data on the impact of slot installation angle on UAV propeller thrust and efficiency. 


Keywords


slot, installation angle, propeller, thrust, efficiency, UAV, advance ratio, mathematical modeling.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32620/aktt.2026.4sup1.05