Aerodynamic Characteristics Calculation Of Aircraft Propellers Using The Blade Element Method

This paper presents the application of the Blade Element Method (BEM) to calculate the aerodynamic characteristics of aircraft propellers. In this method, the propeller is divided into blade elements, each treated as an airfoil section of an aircraft wing. To determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the entire propeller, it is necessary to compute the aerodynamic forces on each element based on local geometric parameters and flow conditions at the section. The integration over all blade elements yields the total thrust and its coefficient.