Chapter III:

Propeller Theory
Reported by:

Baldoz, Lowell T. Briz, Mac Arman B.

A. Propeller Lift and Angle of Attack

Because a propeller blade is a rotating airfoil, it produces lift by aerodynamic action and pulls an aircraft forward. The amount of lift produced depends on the airfoil shape, RPM, and angle of attack of the propeller blade sections.

Starting from the centerline of the hub of a propeller, each blade can be marked off in one-inch increments known as blade stations. If the blade angle is measured at each of these stations, the blade angle near the center of the propeller will be highest with a decrease in blade angle toward the tip. This decrease in blade angle from the hub to the tip is known as pitch distribution.

 A cross section of each blade station will show low-speed airfoils near the hub and highspeed airfoils toward the tip. The pitch distribution and the change in airfoil shape along the length of the blade are necessary because each section is moving at a different velocity with the slowest speeds near the hub and the highest speeds near the tip.

 To illustrate the difference in the speed of an airfoil sections at a fixed RPM, consider three airfoil sections on a propeller blade. I f a propeller is rotating at 1,800 RPM, the ten-inch station will travel 5.25 feet per revolution (214 MPH), nad the thirtyinch station has to move 15.75 feet per revolution (321 MPH). The airfoil that gives the best lift at 107 MPH would be inefficient at 321 MPH. Thus the airfoil is changed gradually throughout the length of the blade.

A look at one blade section will illustrate how the blade angle of attack on a fixedpitch propeller can change with different flight conditions. Angle of attack is the angle between the airfoil chord line and the relative wind, where the relative wind is a result of the combined velocities of rotational speed (RPM) and airspeed. The following examples will serve to demonstrate how the angle of attack can change:

 Example 1: If the aircraft is stationary with no wind and an RPM of 1,200, the propeller blade angle of 20 degrees at the twenty-inch blade station will have an angle of attack of 20 degrees. This is because the relative wind is from the direction opposite to the movement of the propeller. Example 2: With the same conditions as Example 1, except that the aircraft is moving forward at 50 MPH, the relative wind is now causing an angle of attack of 0.8 degrees.

 Example 3: With the same conditions as Example 2, except that the propeller RPM is increased to 1, 500 RPM, the relative wind is now causing an angle of attack of 4.4 degrees.
The most desirable angle of attack is between two and four degrees with any angle above 15 degrees being ineffective (airfoils stall at about 15 degrees angle of attack). Fixed-pitch propellers may be selected to give this two to four degree angle of attack at either climb or cruise airspeeds and RPM, depending on the desired flight characteristics of the aircraft.

B. Forces Acting On The Propeller

1. Five Operational Forces a. Centrifugal Force - The force which causes the greatest stress on a propeller is centrifugal force. Centrifugal force can best be described as the force which tries to pull the blades out of the hub. The amount of stress created by centrifugal force may be greater than 7,500 times the weight of the propeller blade.

b. Thrust Bending Force Thrust bending force tends to bend the propeller blades forward at the tips because the lift toward the tip of the blade flexes the thin blade sections forward. Thrust bending force opposes centrifugal force to some degrees. By tilting the blades forward to the operational position during manufacture, this opposition in forces can be used in some propeller designs to reduce the operational stress.

c. Torque Bending Force Torque bending force is a force which tends to bend the propeller blade back in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation.

d. Aerodynamic Twisting Moment It tries to twist a blade to a higher angle by aerodynamic action. This results from the center of rotation of the blade being at the mid-point of the chord line while the center of lift is more toward the leading edge of the blade. It is more apparent at higher blade angles of attack.

e. Centrifugal Twisting Moment

It tends to decrease blade angle and opposes aerodynamic twisting moment. The tendency to decrease blade angle is caused by all parts of a rotating propeller trying to move in the same plane of rotation as the blade centerline. This force is greater than the aerodynamic twisting moment at operational RPM and is used in some designs to cause a decrease in blade angle.

2.

Vibrating Force and Critical Range

When a propeller is producing thrust aerodynamic and mechanical forces are present which cause the blades to vibrate. If not compensated for in the design, these vibrations may cause excessive flexing, workhardening of the metal, and result in sections of the propeller blade breaking off during operation.

 Mechanical vibrations are generated by the power pulses in a piston engine and are considered to be more destructive in their effect than aerodynamic vibration. These engine power pulses cause a propeller blade to vibrate and set up standing wave patterns that cause metal fatigue and failure. The location and number of stress points changes with different RPM settings, but the most critical location for these stress concentrations is about six inches in from the tip of the blades.

C. Propeller Pitch
Propeller pitch is defined as the distance in inches that a propeller will move forward in one revolution. This is based on the propeller blade angle at the 75% blade station. As defined, propeller pitch is more properly called geoetric pitch and is theoretical in that it does not take into account any losses due to inefficiency. Effective pitch is the distance that an aircraft actually moves forward in one revolution of the propeller.It may vary from zero, when the aircraft is stationary on the ground, to about 85% during the most efficient flight conditions. The difference between geometric pitch and effective pitch is called slip.

THE END!!!!