Calculations of propeller/airframe interference effects using the potential/multienergy flow method

This paper describes an analytical/computational model to predict propeller/airframe interference effects. In the present method, the propeller is modeled by an actuator disk and is assumed to have free-vortex blading. The flowfield consists of two potential flow regions of different stagnation conditions separated by a bound-vortex sheet located at the actuator disk and a free-vortex sheet located on the propeller slipstream. A newly developed technique of handling these vortex sheets is embedded into an existing finite-volume, full-potential code to analyze the flowfield. Comparisons of the results obtained using the present model to those from dissimilar models and some experimental data indicate that this simple method is adequate for integration studies of current ultra-high-bypass (UHB)-powered aircraft ranging from the subsonic takeoff/climbing flow regime to the transonic cruising condition.