The Efficiency of Drone Propellers—A Relevant Step Towards Sustainability †
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Approach Methods
3. Test Object
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
- The best static efficiency of a commercial static use-oriented propeller reaches approximately 83% when the geometric pitch is about 1/3 of the propeller diameter.
- The static efficiency at the constant Re number depends strongly on the geometric pitch, and it may drop more than twice with the geometric pitch increasing from D/3 to D.
- The static efficiency for all tested values of the geometric pitch does not depend considerably on the Reynolds number in the range of 80,000 to 200,000, in spite of clearly detected changes in thrust and power coefficients in that region.
- The most effective blade sections (around 0.75R) in the case of the most efficient blade settings (geometric pitch 0.33D) work at much lower values of angle of attack than the angle of attack for the best lift/drag ratio for the airfoil of those sections.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Susi, J.; Unt, K.-E.; Heering, S. The Efficiency of Drone Propellers—A Relevant Step Towards Sustainability. Eng. Proc. 2025, 90, 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2025090089
Susi J, Unt K-E, Heering S. The Efficiency of Drone Propellers—A Relevant Step Towards Sustainability. Engineering Proceedings. 2025; 90(1):89. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2025090089
Chicago/Turabian StyleSusi, Jaan, Karl-Eerik Unt, and Siim Heering. 2025. "The Efficiency of Drone Propellers—A Relevant Step Towards Sustainability" Engineering Proceedings 90, no. 1: 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2025090089
APA StyleSusi, J., Unt, K.-E., & Heering, S. (2025). The Efficiency of Drone Propellers—A Relevant Step Towards Sustainability. Engineering Proceedings, 90(1), 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2025090089