3D EFFECTS IN CYCLOROTOR PROPULSION SYSTEMS

A cycloidal propeller is an aircraft propulsion system that is composed by several blades rotating about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the flight direction. The rotor blades prescribe a periodic change on their pitch angle over a cycle of rotation. Many experimental, analytical and numerical studies have been developed in order to calculate force production and power required as well as the real simulation of the blades motion and the cyclorotor mechanical system operation. An important aspect of cycloidal propellers is the study of their efficiency both in hovering state and in forward motion considering 3D effects. For this purpose, it is developed a two-dimensional and three-dimensional CFD model of a cyclorotor whose blades describe the cycloidal path imposed by the pitch mechanical system control. Then, it is taken into account the experimental data for the proper validation. With the validated model, it presented and analyzed the 3D flow field around the cyclorotor under different operating conditions.