Novel High-Precision and Efficient Momentum Source Method

Effective and reliable slipstream numerical simulation methods are important for propeller-driven aircraft design. This paper presents a high-precision and efficient momentum source method (HPE-MSM) based on a novel actuator disk load predictionmodel established by the frozen rotormethod and blade elementmomentumtheory.The simulation results of two benchmark test cases of an isolated propeller anda typical turboprop airliner showthat the accuracy of the HPE-MSMproposed in thispaper is close to the time-averagedunsteady results of the slidingmeshmethod (SMM),with a maximum error of 5% in aircraft lift and drag coefficients compared with experimental values. Meanwhile, the calculation efficiency of the HPE-MSM is comparable to quasi-steady methods, with only about 3.4% of the computation resources of the SMMin the whole aircraft simulation. This novel approach achieves high-precision and efficient simulation of the slipstream, which has the potential to improve the design level of propeller-driven aircraft.