zlacker

[return to "Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone would explain better?"]
1. skanga+Jw[view] [source] 2020-04-26 23:34:58
>>qqqqqu+(OP)
Can anyone explain disc loading and solidity in a propeller and if there are any equations governing them?
◧◩
2. na85+hy[view] [source] 2020-04-26 23:48:56
>>skanga+Jw
Disc Loading is just the force on the actuator disc (such as a rotor, in which case the force is the weight of the vehicle the rotor holds aloft) divided by the swept area (pi times r squared).

It's used when discussing propulsive efficiency, as it's a proxy measurement for how much "work" each blade is doing. Because propeller/rotor blades are just high-aspect wings, if you have high disc loading your blades are at a high lift coefficient which means they'll be incurring lots of lift-induced drag which increases your power requirements.

Solidity in the same context refers to the amount of volume within an actuator disk that's occupied by actual solid material. If you have a 4-bladed rotor and you move to a 5-bladed rotor, all else equal, you've increased your solidity.

There are many many equations, and as most things in fluid mechanics you can get as deep into the weeds as you want. As a starting point, have a look at the wiki article for Blade Momentum Theory[0]

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momentum_theory

◧◩◪
3. skanga+Vz[view] [source] 2020-04-27 00:03:55
>>na85+hy
Thanks na85

Let's take a contrived example. I have a 4 engine high wing airplane with 2 bladed 55 inch props on each engine with 100kg force (1 kg-f is equal to 9.8 N) thrust per engine.

Now, I need to make that a low wing airplane so need to change to 22 inch blades with the same thrust and I don't want to change engines. So I want to add more prop blades. How many more blades do I need to add?

◧◩◪◨
4. na85+xA[view] [source] 2020-04-27 00:07:48
>>skanga+Vz
Couple of points:

1) 100kg is a measure of mass, not force. Thrust is a force, not a mass. But let's say you have 100N of thrust per engine.

2) Why would changing from a high-wing to a low wing monoplane require you to add prop blades?

[go to top]