Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Design of Experiments Optimization of a Contra Rotating Propeller Setup, based on Computational Fluid Dynamics

Johansson, Marcus LU (2025) MVKM01 20251
Department of Energy Sciences
Abstract
Contra rotating propellers (CRP) exhibit several benefits compared to a traditional single-propeller setup. It has for example a high thrust-to-area ratio and offsetting torque is minimized. Accordingly it has several applications, one of them being electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The present thesis sets out to optimize the contra rotating propeller setup, both from a more general perspective and specifically to an application defined by the company VCraft Aeronautics. The optimization is based on data generated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The thesis consists of three sections; first the validation of simulations against experimental data from a single propeller, second the modifications required to... (More)
Contra rotating propellers (CRP) exhibit several benefits compared to a traditional single-propeller setup. It has for example a high thrust-to-area ratio and offsetting torque is minimized. Accordingly it has several applications, one of them being electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The present thesis sets out to optimize the contra rotating propeller setup, both from a more general perspective and specifically to an application defined by the company VCraft Aeronautics. The optimization is based on data generated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The thesis consists of three sections; first the validation of simulations against experimental data from a single propeller, second the modifications required to simulate a CRP setup and third the actual optimization using design of experiments (DoE) and multiple objectives genetic algorithm (MOGA). It is concluded that a lower rotational speed and greater pitch angle for both propellers appear to increase the efficiency. Having a larger distance between the propellers and having the first propeller produce comparably more thrust also seem to increase the efficiency. The specific optimization results in a promising configuration, potentially having a higher efficiency than for the corresponding single propeller setups. Suitable CFD settings for the CRP setup appears to be k-ω SST turbulence modeling and moving reference frame (MRF) rotational modeling. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Drönare och andra eldrivna luftfordon gör allt större inslag i dagens samhälle, med unik potential att forma framtiden. För en effektivare drift kan kontraroterande propellerpar användas. Interaktionen mellan propellrarna är däremot komplex, men här visas det tack vare optimering att en verkningsgrad högre än för två separata propellrar kan uppnås – du kan båda äta kakan, ha den kvar och få en smula på köpet!
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Johansson, Marcus LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Design-of-Experiements-optimering av ett kontraroterande propellersystem, användandes numerisk strömningslära
course
MVKM01 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
computational, numerics, cfd, fluid dynamics, aero dynamics, propellers, crp, contra rotating, optimization, doe, moga, mrf, sm, k-omega SST, RANS, efficiency
report number
ISRN LUTMDN/TMPH-25/5656-SE
ISSN
0282-1990
language
English
id
9204778
date added to LUP
2025-06-25 08:25:29
date last changed
2025-06-26 08:21:43
@misc{9204778,
  abstract     = {{Contra rotating propellers (CRP) exhibit several benefits compared to a traditional single-propeller setup. It has for example a high thrust-to-area ratio and offsetting torque is minimized. Accordingly it has several applications, one of them being electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The present thesis sets out to optimize the contra rotating propeller setup, both from a more general perspective and specifically to an application defined by the company VCraft Aeronautics. The optimization is based on data generated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The thesis consists of three sections; first the validation of simulations against experimental data from a single propeller, second the modifications required to simulate a CRP setup and third the actual optimization using design of experiments (DoE) and multiple objectives genetic algorithm (MOGA). It is concluded that a lower rotational speed and greater pitch angle for both propellers appear to increase the efficiency. Having a larger distance between the propellers and having the first propeller produce comparably more thrust also seem to increase the efficiency. The specific optimization results in a promising configuration, potentially having a higher efficiency than for the corresponding single propeller setups. Suitable CFD settings for the CRP setup appears to be k-ω SST turbulence modeling and moving reference frame (MRF) rotational modeling.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Marcus}},
  issn         = {{0282-1990}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Design of Experiments Optimization of a Contra Rotating Propeller Setup, based on Computational Fluid Dynamics}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}