CENTRIFUGAL LOADS ON PROPELLER BLADES.

The prediction of loads experienced by a rotating propeller blade is of great importance in propeller design, especially in view of the recent increase in failures of propeller blades and pitch control mechanisms. Analytical expressions are derived for the forces and moments induced on a propeller blade due to uniform shaft rotation. Methods are outlined for the numerical evaluation of these expressions using digital computers. An approximate formula is derived for the centrifugal spindle torque on a controllable-pitch propeller blade, displaying explicitly the influence of independent variations in skew and rake. A discussion is given of the implications of these results in blade design.